The Richard H. Driehaus Museum

02/23/2021

The Nickersons amassed their fortune through a distillery business that supplied the Union Army during the Civil War and later, through banking. Gilded Age entrepreneurs who enjoyed great financial success built American “palaces” designed to fulfill specific rituals of society with each room playing an important role.

While it is common for homes today to have “open concept” rooms, where we may dine and enjoy entertainment in the same space, during the Gilded Age the Front Parlor was strictly used as a place to formally welcome visitors into the home. Guests welcomed into the Front Parlor of the Nickerson Mansion may have spent time making customary social calls, enjoying a cup of tea, or having their first cocktail of the evening before dinner in the Dining Room.

When it is safe to welcome guests into our homes once again, what event are you most excited to host?

Front Parlor of the Nickerson Mansion, c. 1883

02/19/2021

The Driehaus Museum will reopen on Saturday, March 6 at 10 a.m.

The mornings of March 6 and 7 from 10 a.m. - 12 p.m. will be reserved for visits from current Driehaus Museum members. The Museum will be open to the public until 5 p.m. on both days.

More information and tickets available at https://driehausmuseum.org/visit/plan-your-visit

02/19/2021

The Richard H. Driehaus Museum

On this day in 1848, Louis Comfort Tiffany is born and nature was about to be illuminated like never before.

Happy Birthday, Mr. Tiffany. Your spirit is all around us at the Driehaus Museum.

Today, on #InternationalMuseumDay, we are sharing one the most important pieces from our collection.

This centerpiece lamp, which is believed to be one-of-a-kind, was designed by Tiffany Studios around 1910. It is made of mother-of-pearl, gilt bronze, blown glass, and eight large nautilus shells. The top portion of the lamp can be removed at the scalloped center of the body, allowing it to transform into two separate pieces - a lower table lamp and a large vase in the center of eight smaller vases made by gilt metal cups inside each nautilus shell to create a stunning floral presentation. It is currently on display in the Reception Room.

#athingofbeauty #driehausmuseum #tiffanylamp #museumfromhome
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Tiffany Studios (American, 1902-1932). Nautilus Shell Centerpiece Lamp, circa 1910. Mother-of-pearl, gilt-bronze, blown glass, nautilus shell. Collection of The Richard H. Driehaus Museum. Photograph by John Faier.

02/19/2021

A Tale of Today: Up From the Ashes - Pullman Porters and the Great Migration | Driehaus Museum

ON THE BLOG - As a part of the Driehaus Museum’s ongoing mission to expand upon the shaping of Chicago during the Gilded Age through our A Tale of Today: Up From the Ashes series, this Black History Month we look to the Great Migration, the Chicago Defender, the Pullman porters, and the roots of Chicago’s Black working class.

The Richard H. Driehaus Museum explores the art, architecture, and design of the late 19th-century with a focus on the Gilded Age. The Museum is located just steps from the Magnificent Mile within the meticulously restored Nickerson Mansion, renowned as Gilded Age Chicago’s “Marble Palace.”

02/17/2021

In this poster advertisement, La R***e Blanche, 1895, Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec implies that the figure (although cut at the knees) is ice skating. The movement of the skater is depicted by showing her at an angle with her extended left arm trailing. Lautrec was asked to create this poster as an advertisement for “La R***e blanche”, a popular literary journal. The figure portrayed is Misia Natanson, who was married to the journal's editor, Thadée Natanson. The initial design included the lower portion of the figure’s legs showing the ice skates as well as further detail in the background. However, for the final iteration, Lautrec chose to emphasize the focus on Natanson herself as the epitome of sophistication and muse of her husband’s publication.

Born to an aristocratic family, Lautrec suffered from congenital health disorders that lead to physical deformities at a young age. He found solace in artistic pursuits and saw himself as an “outsider.” As an adult, he settled in bohemian Montmartre, where became a central figure, befriending other artists and writers as well as their patrons, like the Natansons. He is well known for painting friends and models drawn from the ranks of the performers and prostitutes he met in music halls and cabarets. Lautrec’s depictions of these women, known as the demimondaine, and his willful disregard for the conventional rules of representation, led to some of the most memorable images of the era.

Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec (French, 1864–1901). La R***e Blanche, 1895. Color lithograph backed with linen. Printer: Edward Ancourt, Paris. The Collection of Richard H. Driehaus, Chicago. Photographed at The Richard H. Driehaus Museum, Chicago.

02/12/2021

La Valse des Lilas (The Waltz of the Lilacs) at the Driehaus Museum

“All the lilacs of May
Will not stop
Will never stop
Bringing joy to the hearts of people in love”

This performance of La Valse des Lilas (The Waltz of the Lilacs) by French composer Michel Legrand featuring vocalist Ana Everling and pianist Patrick Donley premiered as part of the Driehaus Museum’s program, Live From the Drawing Room: The Language of Flowers.

In the late 19th century, when the language of flowers delivered messages that could not be spoken aloud, lilacs symbolized remembrance of an old love...maybe a first love.

We hope your Valentine’s Day weekend is filled with love – whether it is old, new, or timeless.

02/10/2021

Ludwig von Hoffman was born in Germany to an aristocratic family in 1861. He studied art in Dresden, Karlsruhe, and completed his schooling at the Academie Julian in Paris. Upon his return to Germany, he made his way to Berlin and became a part of its thriving avant-garde artistic community.

Hofmann’s depiction of Adam and Eve contains major themes of sensuality, sin, and the choice between good and evil. These themes were inspired by his friend and artist, Edvard Munch.

In 1892, the Association of Berlin Artists was so shocked by Munch’s exhibition of more than fifty paintings which critics had labeled as immoral and anarchistic, they closed it after only one week. In response to Munch’s mistreatment, Von Hoffman, with other artists such as Max Klinger, Käthe Kollwitz, and Max Lierbermann, formed a new association, Gruppe XI, which, six years later became the Berlin Secession.

This work is currently featured in the exhibition, PAN: Prints of Avant-Garde Europe, 1895-1900.

Ludwig von Hoffman (German, 1861-1945), Adam and Eve, 1896. Published in PAN II, Issue 1, 1897. Color Lithograph.

02/09/2021

The Origins of Lustreware: Recapping Over Ten Centuries of Aesthetic Pottery | Driehaus Museum

Lustreware refers to a style of pottery decorated with metallic oxided glazes which provides an iridescent effect. The technique has a long history that begins in Mesopotamia and spans the globe.

ON THE BLOG - Learn more about lusterware and the pieces currently on display in the Library of the Driehaus Museum, like the image pictured below.

The Richard H. Driehaus Museum explores the art, architecture, and design of the late 19th-century with a focus on the Gilded Age. The Museum is located just steps from the Magnificent Mile within the meticulously restored Nickerson Mansion, renowned as Gilded Age Chicago’s “Marble Palace.”

02/04/2021

Pick your favorite Betty!

This year marks the 100th anniversary of the marketing persona Betty Crocker – the most famous and trusted advisor to Americans in the kitchen. Her brand is an icon of American culture as well as a genius invention of marketing. The use of storytelling in advertising, which was developed over a century ago, continues to impact and influence consumers and culture today.

Last weekend, the Driehaus Museum hosted a virtual event that explored the history and impact of Betty Crocker. It was the perfect way to bake up some nostalgia!

Images: Betty Crocker, 1936, "In a Roman kitchen" Courtesy of the New York Public Library Digital Collections, "Woman dishing rice into bowl" Courtesy of the New York Public Library Digital Collections, Betty Crocker, 1965, Betty Crocker, 1986, Servant in the Nickerson Mansion kitchen, c. 1883.

02/03/2021

Use code VALENTINE for 10% off artful Valentine's Day gifts for now and later - valid until February 14!

Now, stay in with our gorgeously crafted 10-in-1 Wooden Combination Game Set or the fun and unique “Sagrada” stained glass maker board game. Keep yourself busy with a beautiful vintage Butterflies and Bees & Honey illustrations puzzle.

Later, get ready to bust loose and head out of the house with pretty accessories like the gorgeous handmade beaded brooches and nature-inspired light woven scarves.

Whether you're headed out or staying in, don't forget to wash your hands and moisturize with our "Bee" clean soap and lotion.

Shop now at -
https://shop.driehausmuseum.org/

02/02/2021

Homes from the Gilded Age, like the Nickerson Mansion, were built for entertaining with countless features added to the home to facilitate formalities and defy expectations. The technologies, amenities, and even the spaces we include in our homes have evolved. While many things have changed some have also stayed the same. With slight adaptations, we still use electricity and indoor plumbing in the same way people have been for decades. However, the way we entertain in our homes has changed significantly.

You may have thought a lot about your home recently. What are some things in your home that you couldn’t live without? How do you think homes have changed and also stayed the same?

As we begin to explore the Nickerson Mansion #RoomByRoom, we start with the Main Hall during the Nickerson and Fisher periods. Which do you prefer?

01/26/2021

Zsolnay was founded in Pécs, Hungary in 1853 by Miklós Zsolnay. His son, Vilmos, joined the company ten years later and under his direction the manufacturer developed innovative techniques for ceramic production that led to international recognition and acclaim. Zsolnay participated in the 1873 World Fair in Vienna and the 1878 World Fair in Paris, where they were awarded the Grand Prix.

In 1893, Zsolnay introduced the Eosin glaze, named after the Greek goddess of the dawn, which became a favorite technique of Art Nouveau and Jugendstil artists and makers. The celebrated iridescent metallic-lustre glaze is seen in this naturalistic "Tulips" vase. (Base view in comments.)

After almost 170 years, Zsolnay is still in business in Pécs where the family’s original house has been turned into a museum next to the current facility.

Zsolnay Porcelain Manufactory (Hungarian, 1853 - present). "Tulips" Vase, late 19th century. Glazed ceramic. The Collection of Richard H. Driehaus, Chicago.

01/21/2021

The work that Nate Young has made for his installations in A Tale of Today: Nate Young and Mika Horibuchi combines the aesthetics of the Nickerson Mansion with his own family’s history. Specifically, the story of Young's great-grandfather and his journey North on horseback during the Great Migration unfolds within his sculptural woodworks and black-on-black text paintings.

The clock he created for Mrs. Nickerson's bedroom borrows elements of its woodwork design from the fireplace that is original to the room. A hologram of a horse bone appears within the dark interior of the work, referencing his great-grandfather's journey. The text in the painting is purposefully barely legible to quietly expose a family secret.

Both works are exceptional visual reminders of the impact the past continues to have on the present.

01/18/2021

Today we are honoring Martin Luther King Jr. by celebrating Black achievement during the history of the Nickerson Mansion and how those legacies have been embedded in “A Tale of Today.”

“All labor that uplifts humanity has dignity and importance and should be undertaken with painstaking excellence.”
— Martin Luther King, Jr.

Robert Sengstacke Abbott founded the Chicago Defender in 1905. He was first exposed to the city when his college singing quartet performed at the World’s Columbian Exposition in 1893. He returned to Chicago to attend law school. However, convinced by others that his dark skin would be too great an impediment in finding work as a lawyer, he did not pursue the Illinois bar. Having worked in a print shop in his youth, he decided to start a newspaper with a 25-cent investment and began printing it from his landlord’s kitchen as a four-page handbill. Through his innovation in serving a burgeoning Black market and his skills as an entrepreneur, Abbot would go on to become one of the first self-made millionaires of African-American descent and his paper remains one of the most consequential newspapers published in America over 115 years later.

Abbott partnered with the Pullman porters to informally distribute the publication along their railway routes, gaining the Chicago Defender nationwide popularity and exposure. Eventually, the Defender would become the quintessential Black newspaper in America at the beginning of the twentieth century and played a major role in the Great Migration, providing a window of what was possible in the North to those struggling in the South.

Between 1915 and 1940 the Black population of Chicago more than doubled. This along with the effects of WPA (Works Progress Administration) caused an arts and culture moment that has been called the Chicago Black Renaissance, beginning in the 1930s. The Defender supported and showcased these artists as the first newspaper of its kind to publish a full entertainment section covering Black fine art, literature, music, and culture, fostering Chicago’s Black arts community for generations.

Robert Sengstacke Abbott’s great-nephew, Robert A. Sengstacke, became a photojournalist working for the Chicago Defender during the Civil Rights Movement. He is best known for his portraits of Martin Luther King, Jr.

Image: Robert S. Abbott; Home of the Chicago Defender; The world's greatest weekly. 1923. Courtesy of The New York Public Library Digital Collections.

01/15/2021

Theo van Rysselberghe, was a dynamic figure of Belgian painting and on October 28, 1883 became a co-founder of the prominent artistic circle “Les XX.” Van Rysselberghe began as an Orientalist, painting and drawing scenes of Morocco during his travels there. Throughout his career and with his involvement with “Les XX,” he became friends with Fernand Khnopff, Henri van de Velde, James Ensor, Felicien Rops, James Abbott McNeill Whistler, John Singer Sargent, and others.

In 1886, after he encountered George Seurat’s "A Sunday on La Grande Jatte," now exhibited at the Art Institute of Chicago, he converted to neo-Impressionism-Pointillism. Though he is considered one of the greatest neo-Impressionist painters, most of his works are still held in French and Belgian private collections.

His work here, now exhibited at the Richard H. Driehaus Museum in PAN: Prints of Avant-Gard Europe, 1895-1900, is a lithographic portrait of the French Symbolist poet Henri de Régnier (1864-1926).

Theo van Rysselberghe (Belgian, 1862 - 1926), Portrait of Henri de Régnier, 1898. Published in PAN Volume IV, Issue 1, 1898. Lithograph.

01/12/2021

Join or renew your Driehaus Museum membership now and receive 15 months for the price of 12!
Visit ---> http://driehausmuseum.org/support/membership

A Driehaus Museum membership is the perfect gift for yourself or the art, architecture, and history lover in your life.

Your 15-month membership includes:
- Free admission to the Museum and all exhibitions
- Discounts on select programs
- 15% Discount at the Museum Store

Use the code HOLIDAY3FREE at checkout through January 15, 2021.

01/08/2021

The gray palette of the large-scale carpet that Mika Horibuchi has created for her installation in Mr. Samuel Nickerson’s bedroom is a clear indicator that it is a new addition to the surroundings.

However, what may take the viewer a few more moments to realize is that, as a way of authentically incorporating her addition into the 19th-century surroundings, Horibuchi has used the pattern of the bedroom’s canvas ceiling panels on the carpet.

The artwork brilliantly works as the centerpiece of the installation because it seamlessly combines what is original to the Nickerson Mansion with the artist’s own technique and perspective.

Mika Horibuchi (American, b. 1991), Mr. Nickerson's Carpet, 2020. Oil on panel. Courtesy of the artist and PATRON Gallery, Chicago.

01/05/2021

This petite covered box highlights the more playful side of Tiffany’s decorative works. The top depicts a frog, a motif rarely used by the company, on a lily pad with a border of water lily blossoms. On the inside, a large orange carp swims among the sapphire blues and rich greens of the water.

Enamel-on-copper pieces, like this one, were the most exotic of Tiffany’s creations; working in limited production allowed for experimentation with new forms and surface treatments. From 1898-1907 the small, women-led enamel department of Tiffany Studios created around 750 decorative pieces like this “Frog and Fish” covered box.

Tiffany Glass and Decorating Company (American, 1892 - 1902), "Frog and Fish" Covered Box, c. 1900-1903. Enameled copper. The Collection of Richard H. Driehaus, Chicago.