National Farmer's Bank of Owatonna

Detail, green and blue glazed terracotta corner ornament, second story arcade

Sullivan, Louis H.

Prairie School

101 N. Cedar St. (northeast corner of Broadway and Cedar)

United States

American

36 ft (diameter, arched windows)

buildings; commercial buildings; financial institutions; banks (buildings)

The last phase in Sullivan’s career was largely devoted to designing banks in small towns in the Midwest. Sullivan’s first commission in this field was the magnificent National Farmers’ Bank (1907-1908) in Owatonna, MN. They were all low, load-bearing brick constructions; they did, however, raise important questions of institutional expression. Sullivan’s solution was to make them monumental, as befitted banks, but "modern" and unrelated to historical precedent in order to communicate their transformed character. They are the final and most richly impressive demonstrations of his ornamental skill ("jeweled strongboxes"), with their rich use of polychromy in brick and terracotta. Elmslie became increasingly responsible for the ornament that Sullivan lavished on the exterior and interior of his buildings. Elmslie produced many of the drawings for the ornament of the bank; he left Sullivan's employ in 1909. The building is clad in red brick with green terra cotta bands, and features two large arches. Internal elements include two stained glass windows designed by Louis J. Millet, a mural by Oskar Gross, and four immense (18 ft. long) cast iron electroliers (electric chandeliers) designed by Elmslie and cast by Winslow Brothers Company. A National Historic Monument since 1976, it was restored in 1976-1981. (Source: Grove Art Online; http://www.oxfordartonline.com/)

construction (assembling); fabrication attributes: ceramics; stained glass

© Scott Gilchrist, Archivision, Inc.

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