Fine Arts Building Tour

Stop 1 Exterior Details – Studebaker Carriage Company

Founded in 1852 in South Bend, Indiana by five Studebaker brothers.
Known for manufacturing some of the finest carriages in the world.
Operated a successful sales room on Wabash Avenue in Chicago starting in the early 1870s.

Michigan Avenue Location

In 1885, the company consolidated operations into a new location on Michigan Avenue.
Architect Solon Beman, impressed by his work in Pullman, was hired to design the building.
Completed in 1887, the building featured a Romanesque-style facade.
The factory was hailed as the “model carriage factory” in the U.S. or even the world.
Carriages were assembled on the upper floors and displayed in showrooms on the lower floors.

Transition to the Fine Arts Building

By 1895, the company’s rapid expansion required a move to a larger facility.
Before moving in 1897, over $500,000 was invested to remodel the building into a center for art, studios, offices, and theaters.
In 1898, the remodeled building became the Fine Arts Building, a cultural hub in Chicago.
By the turn of the century, over 10,000 students were taking music lessons in the building.

1. Carriage Advertisement – The Driveway Series, Lake Shore Drive Edition

2. Studebaker Carriage Building 1887

3. Fine Arts Building 1898

4. Studebaker Starlight Coupe

Stop 2 Lobby

5. 1852 poem titled “L’Art” by the French poet Théophile Gautier

Stop 3. Studebaker Theater

Located in the former Studebaker Carriage Company showroom.
Had a seating capacity of 1,550, hosting classical music, opera, and vaudeville performances.
Known for its exceptional beauty and acoustically superior design, featuring an arched proscenium.

Historic Events

In 1910, hosted a sold-out two-week farewell engagement with French actress Sarah Bernhardt.
In 1917, major renovations by the Shubert Organization and architect Andrew Rebori enlarged the proscenium, rebuilt the side walls, and added new floors.
The original 1898 ceiling remains unchanged.

Notable Performances (1957-1982)

Operated under various organizations, including the Nederlanders.
Featured prominent stars like:
- Eartha Kitt in The Owl and The Pussycat
- Martin Sheen in The Subject Was Roses
- Henry Fonda in Time of Your Life

Closure and Renovation

Closed in November 2000 and remained empty and in disrepair for about 15 years.
In 2021, began a major multi-million dollar renovation, including new seating, lighting, and sound systems.

Reopening & Current Use

Reopened in 2022 and is home to NPR’s Wait Wait… Don’t Tell Me!.
Hosts performances from:
- Chicago International Puppet Theater Festival
- Chicago Opera Theater
- Chicago Repertory Ballet
- Chicago Jazz Orchestra
- New musicals and more.

6. Original theater interior – arched proscenium and box seats on 3 levels

7. The original carriage showroom ceiling remains to this day.

8. New theater interior

9. New box seats on 2 levels

10. Original exit sign coexists with fire code compliant exit sign

11. Advertisement 1

12. Advertisement 2

Stop 4. Architect Solon Spencer Beman

Moved to Chicago in 1879 at age 26.
Commissioned by George Pullman to design the nation’s first company town.

Design Work

Designed over 1,300 buildings, including houses, a factory, water tower, theater, church, hotel, schools, and more.
Completed planning in one year (1879–1880); town built in one year (1880–1881).
Focused on providing workers with everything they needed.

Architectural Style

Known for picturesque eclecticism, incorporating Gothic Revival, Queen Anne, and Romanesque Revival details.
These styles are evident in the Fine Arts Building.

Fine Arts Building

Designed to support artists, similar to his work in Pullman.
Included natural light for visual artists, soundproofed studios for musicians, and ample space for sculptors.
Featured two theaters and a communal space for inspiration and collaboration.

13. Pullman Palace Railcar Sleeper

14. Pullman Sleeper Interior

15. Arial view of the town of Pullman

16. Pullman factory – one half!

17. Clock Tower / Administrative Offices – used as inspiration for the movie, “Polar Express”

18. Hotel Florence

19. Colonnade Apartments – built so more people had places to stay for the 1893 World’s Columbian Exposition

20. Clock build up in Hotel Florence

21. Clock build up in Fine Arts Building

22. Newel posts in Pullman School

23. Newel posts in the Fine Arts Building

Stop 5. J.C. & Frank Leyendecker

Studied at the Art Institute of Chicago and Académie Julian in Paris.
Opened a studio in the Fine Arts Building in their early 20s.
Were some of the first tenants in the building – 1989
Lived and worked in Chicago for about three years before moving to NYC.

Frank X. Leyendecker

Created illustrations for Life, Vogue, Vanity Fair, McClure’s, and brands like Palmolive and Remington.
Moved into Joseph’s mansion in 1914, but later left due to conflicts with Charles Beach.
Struggled with addiction and career decline, dying in 1924 at 47, likely from a morphine overdose.

Joseph C. Leyendecker

Created 322 covers for The Saturday Evening Post (1899–1943), shaping American illustration.
Best known for Arrow Collar ads and iconic images like the jolly Santa Claus and New Year’s Baby.
His work influenced Norman Rockwell.
Hosted lavish parties in the 1920s but became isolated due to financial struggles and Charles Beach’s control.
Instructed Beach to burn his artwork, but many were sold or donated.
His originals are now highly valued, collected by figures like Steven Spielberg and George Lucas.

Cultural Impact & Legacy

Joseph’s work was openly homoerotic, featuring idealized, muscular men.
His 1932 Saturday Evening Post cover boldly depicted a near-naked male figure.
Despite his influence, his name faded in history, overshadowed by Rockwell’s Americana.

24. Frank Xavier & Joseph Christian in their Paris apartment as late teenagers

25. Frank painting a canvas in the Fine Arts Building

26. Ivory Soap Ad 1910

27. Chevrolet Review Cover 1922 – Strength & Service

28. The Flapper – notice signature: F.X. Leyendecker

29. The Balance Of Power

30. Columbine and Pierrot

31. Joseph Christian (J.C.) Leyendecker

32. Columbine and Harlequin

33. Charles Beach – J.C.’s life partner and the nation’s first sex symbol

34. Arrow Collar Man – Charles Beach

35. Post Cover August 1932 – before the mid-century conservative turn of the nation, people celebrated these near-naked cover men.

36. First Long Suit – J.C. – Norman Rockwell was a friend of the Leyendeckers and was heavily influenced by the artwork of both brothers.

37. J.C.’s 14-room Art Deco mansion in New Rochelle, N.Y.

Stop 5. Ralph Fletcher Seymour

Ralph Fletcher Seymour

Publisher, author, and etching artist.
Ran his publishing business from this studio for nearly 60 years.

Key Works & Contributions

Collaborated with The Wonderful Wizard of Oz author L. Frank Baum on early books like Father Goose (illustrated by fellow Fine Arts Building tenant William Denslow).
Published Poetry Magazine for its first four years.
Published Frank Lloyd Wright’s The Japanese Print (1912).
Published Bertram Cope’s Year (1919), one of America’s first gay literature novels.

Harriet Monroe & Poetry Magazine

Monroe was active in Fine Arts Building social clubs but never a tenant.
Poetry Magazine published early works of T.S. Eliot, Robert Frost, e.e. cummings, and Gertrude Stein.
The magazine continues to publish leading contemporary poets from its Chicago headquarters.

38. The Wonderful Wizard Of Oz – Frank Baum – William Denslow

39. Father Goose – Frank Baum – William Denslow

40. Poetry Magazine – Harriet Monroe

41. Bertram Cope’s Year circa 1919 – considered to be the nation’s first gay novel

42. The Japanese Print by Frank Lloyd Wright

43. Ralph Seymour’s Famous Etchings – Our Daily Bread

National Gallery Of Art, Washington, D.C.

44. Ralph Seymour’s Famous Etchings – A Paris Wine Shop

46. Ralph Seymour’s Famous Etchings – A Visit To Lincoln Park

47. Ralph Seymour’s Famous Etchings – FDR And The Supreme Court

Stop 7. Lorado Taft

Family Connection

Distant relative of U.S. President William Howard Taft.

Notable Work

Lorado Taft’s 1903 book, The History of American Sculpture, was the standard reference on the subject for decades.

Advocacy for Women

Credited with helping to advance the status of women as sculptors.

48: Lorado Taft’s Studio

49: Spirit Of The Great Lakes

south side of the Art Institute Of Chicago

50. Fountain Of Time – Midway Plaisance in Hyde Park

51. Fountain Of Time – I Need A Xanax!

52. Fountain Of Time – Father Time

53. Eternal Silence – grave of Dexter Graves, one of the first 500 Chicagoans – Graceland Cemetery

54. Eternal Indian – Lowden State Park in Oregon, Illinois

55. Head Of Eternal Indian being restored

Stop 8. Frank Lloyd Wright

Kept a studio in the Fine Arts Building from 1910–1911 during a transitional period in his career.
Closed his Oak Park Studio in 1909 and traveled to Europe to oversee the publication of the Wasmuth Portfolio, documenting his work.

Personal Life & Taliesin

Traveled to Europe with Martha Borthwick Cheney, the wife of a client with whom he was having an affair.
Upon returning in 1911, built Taliesin in Spring Green, Wisconsin, as a retreat for them.
Dubbed by the press as the “Love Cottage” and “Castle of Love.”
Tragedy struck when a handyman set the house on fire, killing Borthwick, her two children, and others.

Connections & Influence

Likely drawn to the Fine Arts Building through his ties with tenants, including Ralph Fletcher Seymour, who published The Japanese Print (1912).
Designed Francis Fisher Browne’s Bookstore (7th floor) and Thurber Art Gallery (5th floor), though both interiors are now lost.

The Imperial Hotel & Legacy

Cemented his reputation as one of the greatest architects of the 20th century.
In 1911, as he rebuilt his Chicago practice, he was considered for the Imperial Hotel project in Tokyo.
His deep appreciation for Japanese art helped him secure the commission.

Browne’s Bookstore – Fine Arts Building

56. Taliesin – Spring Green, Wisconsin – “The Love Cottage”

57. Robie House – Hyde Park

58. Roman Brick used on Robie House and many others

59. Japanese Pavillion at the 1893 World’s Fair

60. Shoji-style window panel in Robie House

61. Meyer May house – Grand Rapids, MI

62. Meyer May House – Grand Rapids, MI

63. Meyer May Living Room

64. Meyer May Dining Room

65. Meyer May Primary Bedroom

66. Meyer May Children’s Books

notice the similarity in style to William Denslow’s illustrations

Stop 9. Ralph Clarkson and The Little Room

Born in 1861, son of carriage maker Joseph Clarkson.
At age 17, created the first perspective drawings of carriages in Amesbury, Massachusetts.

Career & Portraiture

Became a renowned portrait painter.
Moved to Chicago in 1895 and quickly received commissions, including portraits of Chicago mayors and Illinois governors.
One of the first tenants of the Fine Arts Building and a key figure in Chicago’s early 20th-century cultural scene.

The Little Room

Co-founded the “Little Room” with Anna Morgan (actor and drama teacher).
The Little Room was one of Chicago’s first artistic clubs, named after a short story by Madeline Wynne about a magical, disappearing room.
1014 in the Fine Arts Building was both Clarkson’s studio and the meeting place for the group.

Notable Members of the Little Room