Since I wrote about the egregiously painted terra cotta ornament recently uncovered on Clark Street, I have revived my personal obsession with the stuff. It is absolutely everywhere you look in Chicago, so I’m posting some gratuitous shots of some of my favorites [I’m guessing I’ll be posting more at future dates]
You have to look beyond the hideous signage that obscures a lot of it:
But some of it remains pretty much as it was intended:
During the 1920s, automobile showrooms and repair shops often had the most elaborately decorated facades
But the original Krause Music Store on Lincoln Ave
is probably the most amazing small terra cotta installation in Chicago. Louis Sullivan designed the facade; it was his last commission before his death in 1924, and while he was a penniless drunk at the time, he obviously hadn’t lost his aesthetic chops.
