Talk:Louis Sullivan

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Old door from Isfahan

Louis Sullivan has been nominated for Selected article, at the Architecture Portal. For more information, visit WikiProject:Architecture

Just wondering, it says that he's a critic of the Chicago style but on the Chicago style page its says he is a major member, and even uses a picture of one of his buildings as an example.

I took out many of the pictures in the article because they wasn't enough text to be able to fit them in properly. Also, if anyone knows how to place pictures on the left side while still using bullets (they always show up over or underneath the picture) please alternate the last picture to the other side. Thanks. --TheGrza 06:59, Oct 14, 2004 (UTC)

Fixed it. --TheGrza 00:11, Oct 28, 2004 (UTC)

Does someone have refrences about Sullivan's last years? I have heard that Wright "stole" all the Sullivan clients and that this, along with personal problems, lead Sullivan to a personal crisis and an alcohol dependency. I have also been told that Sullivan spent the last ten years of his life homeless in Chicago. --J4vier 03:52, 12 May 2005 (UTC)


1) That is not a picture of Louis Sullivan at the head of the page.

2)"I have heard that Wright "stole" all the Sullivan clients and that this, along with personal problems, lead Sullivan to a personal crisis and an alcohol dependency." Not true. Sullivan split with his partner Adler, and that coupled with the Chicago boom being over led to a loss of work coming in. In later years, Sullivan designed some splendid small banks through the Mid-West, and later spent time in the Chicago 'Cliff Dwellers' club competing his book 'A System of Architectural Ornament.' I understand that Sullivan's last years were spent in his holiday home at Ocean Springs, Mississippi.

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[edit] a "modest headstone"

is how Sullivan's marker is described. I just added a picture of it [in fact, two] and I'm wondering if it seems not so modest to anyone else? Compared to the Palmers and Fields and McCormicks maybe, but still . . . . . . . . . .......... ?? Carptrash 15:14, 26 November 2006 (UTC)

Good point. Meanwhile . . . . . .. Carptrash 19:38, 17 December 2006 (UTC)

[edit] I just removed this from the article.

"in fact, Adolf Loos, the author of the seminal manifesto "Ornament and Crime", had worked in Sullivan's office."

Here is why. First of all, "in fact" pretty much always is some version of "in my opinion." Secondly, the citation for including it is "Hughes" and here is what Hughes has to say.

The architect who launched the attack on decorated architecture was Adolf Loos (1870-1933), a Czech who lived in Vienna. Between 1893 and 1896, Loos worked for a time in Louis Sullivan’s office in Chicago.

At various other web site (sorry, didn't get addresses) I discovered:

"He (Loos) moved to the United States, and stayed for 3 years. Loos was very impressed by the architecture of Louis Sullivan, and the efficiency of buildings in the U.S."

and

...and (Loos) then went to the United States, where he worked as a mason, a floor-layer, and a dishwasher. Loos was impressed by the efficiency of American architecture, and he admired the work of Louis Sullivan.

No mention of working for Sullivan.

Trombly, author of (in my opinion) the best biography of Sullivan, only says: "Adolph Loos, who had been inspired by Sullivan during his 1890s sojourn in America . . . ... "

Could Hughes have been mistaking Irving Gill, another of thew stripped down modernests, and who worked for Sullivan from 1891 to 1893 with Loos? Hines, in his book, Irving Gill:and the Architecture of Reform while discussing Loos' visit to America mentions that Loos visited Chicago where he "encountered the elemental geometry and organic ornamentation of Gill and Wright's mentor, Louis Sulllivan, at precisely the same time that the young Americans (Gill and Wright) were working in his office. " No mention of Loos actually working for Sullivan. So, anyway, I took it out and am interested if anyone else has opinions. Next comes the claim, "In his last years, Sullivan seemed willing to abandon ornament altogether in favor of honest massing." Carptrash 19:44, 17 December 2006 (UTC)

[edit] Photo of Louis Sullivan

After wondering for a long time about the photo that has been used on this page, I found it on Britannica.com, and it states that it is "Louis Sullivan, detail of an oil painting by Frank A. Werner, 1919; in the collection of the Chicago Historical Society."

"Sullivan, Louis." Online Photograph. Encyclopædia Britannica Online. 26 Oct. 2007 <http://www.britannica.com/ebc/art-14593>.

So that answers that question. I never knew he looked like that in his last years.

Marykeiran 21:35, 26 October 2007 (UTC)

[edit] Louis Sullivan, Adler & Sullivan, Dankmar Adler

Shouldn't there be an article about Adler & Sullivan that addresses the work of the firm; and then separate biographical articles about Louis Sullivan and Dankmar Adler, each of which provides a complete biography along with information about their individual work when they were not partners? The Sullivan article as currently written tends to emphasize Sullivan alone, but isolation of Sullivan is artificial when Adler, Wright, Elmslie and others played significant roles and at times were certainly equal or more than equal contributors. Sullivan may have portrayed himself as a "lone genius," but his greatest success clearly occurred when he was part of a large firm. SeattleArch 17:08, 8 November 2007 (UTC)