Sullivan/Van Allen Building Collection
1910–1980s
Louis H. Sullivan (1856-1924)
Clinton
In 1910, John D. Van Allen commissioned Louis Sullivan to design a new department store for his family business in Clinton, Iowa. By this date Sullivan had few commissions and thus spent considerable time attending to his immediate projects. In frequent letters to his client (occasionally daily), Sullivan wrote of his design, guiding and persuading the client toward Sullivan’s desired end. In addition to more than one hundred letters, the collection includes financial documents and rare construction photographs.
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See also: <a href=""https://www.artic.edu/node/1055"">Louis Sullivan Collection
See also: <a href=""https://www.artic.edu/node/1315"">Louis Sullivan Buildings Extant in Chicago
Collection access:
Collections may be accessed in the Franke Reading Room of the Research Center at The Art Institute of Chicago, by appointment only. For further information, consult <a href=""https://www.artic.edu/archival-collections/contact-usage-and-faq"">the FAQ.
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<a href=""https://www.artic.edu/archival-collections/oral-histories"">Oral histories
Contact the Ryerson and Burnham Art and Architecture Archives:
archives@artic.edu
Printed papers, typed correspondence, black and white photographic prints, and glass negatives.