A. James Speyer Collection
1931-2005 (bulk 1947-1974)
A. James Speyer (1913-1986) The Art Institute of Chicago Illinois Institute of Technology
Speyer (1913-1986) was in the first graduate-level class taught by Ludwig Mies van der Rohe at the Armour Institute in Chicago. While maintaining a private practice, designing in the Miesian style, Speyer taught at the Illinois Institute of Technology and then served as curator of Twentieth-Century Paintings and Sculpture at The Art Institute of Chicago (1961-1986). Speyer was best known for the innovative, contemporary design of his museum installations. His architectural projects and his museum exhibition designs are documented in architectural drawings, photographs, and published and unpublished articles. There is also a small collection of personal papers and photographs. The exhibition and its accompanying catalog A. James Speyer: architect, curator, exhibition designer (1997) drew heavily from this collection.
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A. James Speyer Oral History.
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Contact the Ryerson and Burnham Art and Architecture Archives:
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Holograph papers, typescript papers,printed papers, architectural reprographic prints, graphite drawings and ink drawings on paper and vellum, black and white photographic prints, color photographic prints, black and white negatives, color slides and a VHS videocassette.