Staircase from Chicago Stock Exchange Building, Chicago

Louis Henry Sullivan|Dankmar Adler

1893 · Cast iron, electroplate copper finish, mahogany railing · The American Wing

During the building boom following the famous fire of 1871, the Chicago School architects, led by Louis Sullivan, invented a new building type: the skyscraper. One of the masterpieces of the form was the Chicago Stock Exchange building completed in 1894. The staircase installed in the Charles Engelhard Court (gallery 701) was removed from the Stock Exchange when it was demolished in 1972. The copper-plated ironwork exemplifies Sullivan’s mature ornamental style—a combination of two-dimensional geometric shapes and naturalistic plantlike forms. Sullivan used similar motifs throughout the building, executing them in a variety of media, from stenciled canvas to molded plaster and terracotta.

Artist

Louis Henry Sullivan|Dankmar Adler

Date

1893

Medium

Cast iron, electroplate copper finish, mahogany railing

Culture

American

Department

The American Wing

Credit line

Purchase, Mr. and Mrs. James Biddle Gift, 1972