The Marquette Building
The Marquette building, designed by Holabird and Roche in 1895, is one of those great, elegant, masculine, big-windowed Chicago office buildings -- and no expense was spared in its construction -- including the services of the young sculptor,Herman Atkins MacNeil (1866-1947), fresh back from Paris and ready to tackle a real challenge: how to tell an elaborate story - and still express the simple strength of this building's facade.
.. the success of which I think is shown in the above detail -- where the characters in a narrative also serve as architectural elements.
I'm not quite sure what's happening here -- and I guess the fun would gone if I ever looked it up.
Am I looking at N.C. Wyeth's illustrations for "Last of the Mohicans" -- or am I entering an office building ? This is the puzzle that I loved to ponder ...
back when I actually did work in this office building -- my first job when I came to Chicago -- as an office-temp in the publications division of a brokerage house.
He went on to specialize in Indians (with pieces now in the Met and the AIC) but I don't know that MacNeil ever got any better -- these pieces, despite their frenzied detail -- really do complement the building. (I'm guessing that the architects were watching him closely)- and I like the idea of all these tall, skinny, half-naked, wild anarchists - with big hooked noses - forever challenging that plump, proper priest.
.. the success of which I think is shown in the above detail -- where the characters in a narrative also serve as architectural elements.
I'm not quite sure what's happening here -- and I guess the fun would gone if I ever looked it up.
Am I looking at N.C. Wyeth's illustrations for "Last of the Mohicans" -- or am I entering an office building ? This is the puzzle that I loved to ponder ...
back when I actually did work in this office building -- my first job when I came to Chicago -- as an office-temp in the publications division of a brokerage house.
He went on to specialize in Indians (with pieces now in the Met and the AIC) but I don't know that MacNeil ever got any better -- these pieces, despite their frenzied detail -- really do complement the building. (I'm guessing that the architects were watching him closely)- and I like the idea of all these tall, skinny, half-naked, wild anarchists - with big hooked noses - forever challenging that plump, proper priest.
posted by chris miller at 11:08 PM
5 Comments:
The artist's name is Hermon Atkins Macneil,,Not Herman
His name is Herman Atkins MacNeil.
Born In 2/27/1866 to John Clinton MacNeil and Mary Lash MacNeil. He Married Carol Brooks.
He was my Great Uncle.
Donald Lash MacNeil
Thankyou for your correction, Donald -- but most of the world is currently spelling the name "Hermon".
(Google prefers "Hermon" by about ten to one - and that's how Wikipedia currently spells it)
Can you provide some visual evidence for the correct spelling ? Like -- a photo of his tombstone perhaps ?
Your great uncle was a great sculptor - and the least we can do is spell his name right !
"Hermon" spelled his name with an "O" not an "A."
For his signature on various sculptures see my website:
HermonAtkinsMacNeil.com
For several hundreds examples and a copy of the marriage license of Carol Louise Brooks and Hermon Atkins MacNeil search my website dedicated to them both.
"Herman" was a common misspelling. His family spelled it the same as "Mount Hermon" in the Bible.
Daniel Neil Leininger
I it was very careless. I
have some of his original clays here in my home in Chicago. One them is of a World War I aviator
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