rectangular window with five small rectangles in a horizontal row at top, overall linear decoration

Window, 1907-1908

Not on Viewexpand_more

One of Sullivan's best-known residential commissions was the Henry B. Babson house, built in 1907-8 in Riverside, Illinois. George Grant Elmslie, Sullivan's chief draftsman at the time, excelled at progressive house design and worked extensively on the Babson project. This window is from a window wall of Elmslie's design. Uncharacteristically, he kept to linear geometric patterns and limited the colors to soft purple and translucent white punctuated with two small green squares. The windows for the Harold C. and Josephine Crane Bradley house in Madison, Wisconsin (1909), also by Sullivan's firm and chiefly from Elmslie's hand, are similar.

Elmslie was Henry Babson's main contact with Sullivan's firm, and when Babson wanted to alter his house four years later he entrusted Elmslie and his new partner, William Gray Purcell, with the work. Purcell and Elmslie designed new furniture for the house, including a tall-case clock and pair of andirons (now at the Art Institute of Chicago) and a box chair (now at The Minneapolis Institute of Art.)

Details
Title
Window
Artist Life
American (born Scotland), 1869–1952
Role
Designer
Accession Number
98.276.1
Curator Approved

This record has been reviewed by our curatorial staff but may be incomplete. These records are frequently revised and enhanced. If you notice a mistake or have additional information about this object, please email collectionsdata@artsmia.org.

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rectangular window with five small rectangles in a horizontal row at top, overall linear decoration