Art of Alfonso and Margaret Iannelli
on Loan from Tim Samuelson, Chief Historian of the City of Chicago
Alfonso Iannelli was born in Italy in 1888, and came to America with his family at the age of ten. He was proficient in art at an early age - starting his career in New York, later Los Angeles, and then to Chicago in 1915. His studio was relocated to Park Ridge, IL in 1920. He remained in practice there until his death in 1965.
Design for A Monstrance - St. Thomas The Apostle Church, Chicago 1918
The piece by Alfonso Iannelli is a presentation rendering of a monstrance - an altar piece found in Catholic churches. It essentially is an elaborate frame rendered in silver with gold trimmings surrounding a round glass window which held a consecrated communion host - and sometimes relics of saints. It was created and executed in 1918 for the St. Thomas the Apostle Church at 55th and Kimbark in Hyde Park. It was among Iannelli's many lifelong efforts to bring modernism into twentieth century Catholic worship. Iannelli collaborated with architect Barry Byrne on the design of the church itself which still stands as a prominent landmark of architectural and religious history. Sadly, the monstrance is no longer there, and its whereabouts are unknown. (It was probably retained by the original church priest who commissioned and personally paid for it.)
The other pieces are by Margaret Iannelli, Alfonso's wife. Born in 1893, she was a child prodigy in art, and whose talents landed her a scholarship in the art program of the short-lived People's University in St. Louis in 1910, where one of her professors was John Vanderpoel. (This was Vanderpoel's last job - he died the following year.)
Margaret was already a successful artist and commercial illustrator at the time she met Alfonso Iannelli. They married in 1915 and moved to Chicago the same year. Their intent was to collaborate on an art studio that would concentrate on commercial art for public sculpture, advertising, product design and items encountered in everyday life. Their underlying mission was to make engaging modernism available to people in all walks of life, and place it unthreateningly for encounters in the home, business and streetscape. They had little interest in creating art to be placed in the rarified environment of art museums and galleries.
But by 1917, Margaret began to show signs of what we now know to be hereditary mental illness. She could create amazing artwork at a frenzied pace and be charming and engaging, then fall into despair and sometimes violence when she couldn't work at all, or tore-up what she created. She was largely under institutional care for much of her life, being hospitalized at the Elgin State Hospital from 1929 until her death there in 1967. While at the hospital, she continued to create wonderful artwork for children's books, as well as projects for the hospital & staff that included illustrating its mimeographed newsletter. She outlived Alfonso. After her death, her children tried to donate her body to science, but there was a surplus supply at that time. Margaret was buried in an unmarked grave for hospital patients and indigents.
Figure of A Woman
This is a very early work by Margaret Iannelli, likely created around 1912 following her time at the People's University in St. Louis. It shows the influence of European Art Nouveau influences in its flowing lines and naturalistic motifs. Part of Margaret's illness led her to obsessively re-work existing paintings. The background was originally a pale beige - but Margaret later painstakingly painted a new white background and signed her married name to the bottom (probably around 1920).
DESIGN FOR ROOSTER RUG: While confined to the Elgin State Hospital, Margaret often created Christmas cards and other items for hospital staffers. This is a design for a rug, created circa 1935 for Florence Starks, the staffer responsible for granting patient leaves at the hospital. Margaret executed many works for Ms. Starks, perhaps hoping to gain favor for a furlough - but her erratic condition made her not eligible to leave the hospital. The hospital allowed people to work in their own professions within the hospital community. It's likely this design was created to be executed by another patient skilled in rug-making.
Duck Painting
Rooster Painting
both illustrations for unpublished children's book MY FARM BOOK - ca. 1932.
These were created for an unpublished children's book called "MY FARM BOOK". Margaret was given a studio at the Elgin State Hospital where she was able to create outside works for commercial publishers. Several were published by Rand McNally. Margaret was probably inspired by the working farm at the Elgin State Hospital where she enjoyed seeing the horses and animals.
Design for A Monstrance - St. Thomas The Apostle Church, Chicago 1918
The piece by Alfonso Iannelli is a presentation rendering of a monstrance - an altar piece found in Catholic churches. It essentially is an elaborate frame rendered in silver with gold trimmings surrounding a round glass window which held a consecrated communion host - and sometimes relics of saints. It was created and executed in 1918 for the St. Thomas the Apostle Church at 55th and Kimbark in Hyde Park. It was among Iannelli's many lifelong efforts to bring modernism into twentieth century Catholic worship. Iannelli collaborated with architect Barry Byrne on the design of the church itself which still stands as a prominent landmark of architectural and religious history. Sadly, the monstrance is no longer there, and its whereabouts are unknown. (It was probably retained by the original church priest who commissioned and personally paid for it.)
The other pieces are by Margaret Iannelli, Alfonso's wife. Born in 1893, she was a child prodigy in art, and whose talents landed her a scholarship in the art program of the short-lived People's University in St. Louis in 1910, where one of her professors was John Vanderpoel. (This was Vanderpoel's last job - he died the following year.)
Margaret was already a successful artist and commercial illustrator at the time she met Alfonso Iannelli. They married in 1915 and moved to Chicago the same year. Their intent was to collaborate on an art studio that would concentrate on commercial art for public sculpture, advertising, product design and items encountered in everyday life. Their underlying mission was to make engaging modernism available to people in all walks of life, and place it unthreateningly for encounters in the home, business and streetscape. They had little interest in creating art to be placed in the rarified environment of art museums and galleries.
But by 1917, Margaret began to show signs of what we now know to be hereditary mental illness. She could create amazing artwork at a frenzied pace and be charming and engaging, then fall into despair and sometimes violence when she couldn't work at all, or tore-up what she created. She was largely under institutional care for much of her life, being hospitalized at the Elgin State Hospital from 1929 until her death there in 1967. While at the hospital, she continued to create wonderful artwork for children's books, as well as projects for the hospital & staff that included illustrating its mimeographed newsletter. She outlived Alfonso. After her death, her children tried to donate her body to science, but there was a surplus supply at that time. Margaret was buried in an unmarked grave for hospital patients and indigents.
Figure of A Woman
This is a very early work by Margaret Iannelli, likely created around 1912 following her time at the People's University in St. Louis. It shows the influence of European Art Nouveau influences in its flowing lines and naturalistic motifs. Part of Margaret's illness led her to obsessively re-work existing paintings. The background was originally a pale beige - but Margaret later painstakingly painted a new white background and signed her married name to the bottom (probably around 1920).
DESIGN FOR ROOSTER RUG: While confined to the Elgin State Hospital, Margaret often created Christmas cards and other items for hospital staffers. This is a design for a rug, created circa 1935 for Florence Starks, the staffer responsible for granting patient leaves at the hospital. Margaret executed many works for Ms. Starks, perhaps hoping to gain favor for a furlough - but her erratic condition made her not eligible to leave the hospital. The hospital allowed people to work in their own professions within the hospital community. It's likely this design was created to be executed by another patient skilled in rug-making.
Duck Painting
Rooster Painting
both illustrations for unpublished children's book MY FARM BOOK - ca. 1932.
These were created for an unpublished children's book called "MY FARM BOOK". Margaret was given a studio at the Elgin State Hospital where she was able to create outside works for commercial publishers. Several were published by Rand McNally. Margaret was probably inspired by the working farm at the Elgin State Hospital where she enjoyed seeing the horses and animals.