Robert Bruce Tague

Robert Bruce Tague (1912-1985) was an American modernist architect and abstract artist who lived in Chicago, Illinois.[1]

Robert Bruce Tague

Education and military service

Tague studied architecture at the Armour Institute of Technology, receiving a Bachelor's of Architecture in 1933 and a Master's in 1935. At the New Bauhaus in Chicago, he taught architecture and drafting.[2] Both institutions later became part of the Illinois Institute of Technology.

He served in the United States Army from 1944 to 1946.[3]

Career

Architecture

After seeing George Fred Keck's buildings at the Century of Progress exposition, Tague sought him out as an advisor for his master's thesis. Tague began doing design work for the senior architect, immediately, even before completing his thesis. While employed there he collaborated on buildings with Keck. He also worked with Ralph Rapson on an entry for the competition to design Ecuador's Legislative Palace. Later, as an associate of Crombie Taylor, he helped to redesign the Auditorium Building.[3]

Together with Tristan Meinecke, he was a partner in the firm Meinecke Studio[4] which built "hundreds of units" in Chicago.[3]

Tague's house for the Frueh family in Highland Park was his most notable building;[2] a local architectural historian found that it had a good case for inclusion on the National Register of Historic Places.[1] However, despite the efforts of a conservation group, the property was demolished and a new building erected in 2006.[5]

Visual Art

Tague was also an abstract artist.[6][7] He was known for oil, watercolor and mixed media collage in a sophisticated, modernist style.[2]

References

  1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 Kunkel, Joe (7 January 2005). "In There and Pitching". Jet Set Modern.
  2. ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 "Robert Tague Artist's Biography". Whitford Fine Art.
  3. ↑ 3.0 3.1 3.2 Blum, Betty. "Interview with Robert Bruce Tague". Chicago Architects Oral History Project.
  4. ↑ Malooley, Jake (25 March 2014), "'Factual Abstractions' Resurrects the work of Tristan Meinecke", Chicago Reader
  5. ↑ "Property Information for 145 Oak Knoll Terrace". Lake County Assessor. 2014. Retrieved 8 August 2014.
  6. ↑ "Robert Bruce Tague auction records". AskArt.com. Retrieved 20 August 2014.
  7. ↑ "Lot 507". 20th Century Art & Design. Wright Auctions. 10 June 2001. Retrieved 20 August 2014.