Lunette and decorative panel 1884 - 1885
louishenrisullivan
minneapolisinstituteofart
relief, terracotta, architecture
art-nouveau
relief
geometric pattern
geometric
united-states
terracotta
architecture
This terracotta relief, created by Louis Sullivan between 1884 and 1885, exemplifies the architect’s early use of organic forms and stylized floral motifs. The "Lunette and Decorative Panel" is a fine example of Sullivan’s exploration of the relationship between architecture and nature, a theme that would become central to his later work. This relief is housed at the Minneapolis Institute of Art.
Comments
Louis Sullivan designed these terracotta panels for the exterior of the Scoville Building in Chicago, one of the Adler and Sullivan firm's earliest commissions. It required them to remodel an existing Adler structure to accord with a new, much larger addition. The terracotta pieces shown here formed part of the organic decoration of stylized plants with which Sullivan tied the two buildings together. This lunette ornamented the arch above the windows of the top (fifth) story. It has an undulating design of ferns unfurling and would have complemented other organically-inspired terracotta pieces throughout the exterior.
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