08 Oct exhaustive exterior photographic survey of louis sullivan’s van allen and company department store (1914)
documenting van allen is finally finished.
photographic survey of louis h. sullivan’s four-story van allen and company department store (1912-14) located at 226 4th ave south, clinton, ia.
to achieve a rhythmic balance, sullivan designed false dividers on the main facade to make the width of the windows synchronize with the side elevations through the use of terra cotta ornament, beginning with an organic burst springing out above the first floor, extending upwards like a giant stem and then blossoming at the top.
sullivan’s terracotta ornament required considerable hand-sculpting by kristian schneider to achieve the extensive undercuts within the ornament, which was a distinctive feature not seen in sullivan’s bank buildings built around the same time period.
the richly colored polychromed matte finishes were done at a time when the american terra cotta company was experimenting heavily in colors, application techniques, finish, etc. in the case of van allen, the colors were carefully hand-applied versus the less costly and time-consuming spay glaze technique.
in addition, american’s kilns had to carefully packed to prevent running of the color. american was known to be more stringent about the art of terra cotta fabrication, whereas the northwestern terra cotta company had much greater resources and technology but were focused more on efficiency and production.
