Chicago Totem, 1963-64
Abbott L. Pattison
West Plaza, Outer Drive
East Apartments
400 East Randolph Street
Rather than an emblem of a particular group of people,
Abbott Pattison’s monumental 18-foot high bronze totem is intended to represent
the force and energy of his native city. Non-representational but suggestive of
writhing, organic forms, the piece was commissioned by the Jupiter Corporation,
developers of the Outer Drive East Apartments, along with his Pavane to Chicago. The latter work
originally served as the focal point of the building’s lobby but was donated
subsequently to DePaul University and is displayed on its campus. Although the
swirling lines and punctured forms of Chicago
Totem offer a visual correspondence with its windswept location, artist and
critic Harold Haydon complained that the work was not integral to the
architecture or its function, in contrast to other local works by Pattison,
such as his carved portal for the American Bar Center.
Pattison (1916-1999) was born in Chicago, attended
Francis W. Parker school and studied art at Yale University. He was awarded
Yale’s first traveling fellowship, which he used for study in China and Japan
during 1940. His experience overseas may have contributed to his later
rejection of straightforward, figurative sculpture in favor a more
experimental, modernist approach. Pattison taught at the Art Institute of
Chicago from 1946-1952 and, in addition to his many works on display in the
city of Chicago, he received public commissions from the Mayo Clinic in
Rochester, Minnesota, Stanford University Medical Center, the Illinois State
Capitol in Springfield, and the U.S. State Department. Best known for his
large-scale works in bronze, he learned casting techniques at the famous
Marinelli foundry in Florence, Italy during the 1950s and made frequent return
visits throughout his career.
Other works:
Other works:
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