Joseph Schlitz Brewing Co.

Richard Bock (designer of the SLZ terra cotta globe for the SLZ pavilion at The World's Columbian Exposition)

Information below from John Notz, Jr. 1/31/00

"Mike (Reilly): In working on something else, I came across this bio, in an Appendix to Dixie Legler (author) and Christian Korab (photographer), "Prairie Style: Houses by Frank Lloyd Wright and the Prairie School" (Stewart, Tabori & Chang, 1999):"

            "Richard Bock (1865-1949), sculptor. A native of Germany, Bock studied in Berlin and Paris, before emigrating with his family to Chicago, where he trained as a cabinetmaker and woodcarver and set up a studio in 1891. Much of his early work was neoclassical, but his later designs were influenced by Wright and the Prairie School. He designed sculpture and developed decorative designs for Sullivan, Perkins, Spencer, Purcell & Elmslie and Drummond."

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    "And this, from an article by Fran Martone in a periodic newsletter of the Frank Lloyd Wright Home & Studio Foundation, relating to Richard Bock (1865-1949):"

        "Born in Schloppe, Germany, Bock . . . survived The Great Chicago Fire . . . [He] was particularly fond of fairy = tales. The latter formed a recurring theme in his work and in his life. (He called his River Forest home "The Gnomes" . . . Bock . . . became a modeler for the Northwestern Terra Cotta Company. . . . In 1888, Bock began three years of classical training, first, in Germany and, then, at the C9cole des Beaux Arts. By the time he returned, most of the sculptural projects for The World's Columbian Exposition had been let. Bock was able , however, to execute some limited projects for the Fair, . . . [including ] a three-dimensional representation of the Schlitz Brewing Company logo (a globe supported by female figures).          Through the auspices of a German developer, Bock was hired by Louis Sullivan to create sculptural spandrels for The Schiller Theater. Bock caused an irreparable breach with Sullivan by adapting the design to meet the client's wishes. . . ."

            "The terra cotta heads of German artists that were created, initially, for The Schiller Theater may, also, be Bock's work. They can be found at Second City Theatre."

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"And that Martone has written to me:"

    ". . . The work was executed in conjunction with a modeler named Franz Rugiska and was created for display at the World's Columbian Exposition of 1893. I do not know who was Bock's contact at Schlitz. I have enclosed a photocopy of the work. . . . My source of information about this sculpture was Donald Hallmark's [1980] thesis on Richard Bock, of which we have a copy in the Research Center. . . .

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    "The legends under the illustrations provided by Don Hallmark, the recognized expert on the life and work of Bock, are:"

        "52. Richard Bock: Pavilion of the Joseph Schlitz Brewing Company, The Manufactures Building, the Columbian Exposition, 1892-1893. (Courtesy Joseph Schlitz Brewing Company)"

AND

        "53. Richard Bock: Detail of the Pavilion of the Joseph Schlitz Brewing Company, the Columbian Exposition, 1892-1893. (Courtesy Joseph Schlitz Brewing Company)"

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    "And this, from "Memoirs of an American Artist: Sculptor: Richard W. Bock", published in 1989 by his daughter, Dorothi Bock Pierre:"

            "It was late Summer of 1891. I was 26 years of age, back in New York [from his studies in Europe], prepared and eager to prove myself." (at p. 44)

            "Returning to Chicago, I saw my family, and catching up on over three years away, I wasted no time in making contacts for work. I found that all of the contracts for sculpture on the World's Columbian Exposition had been assigned. There were, however, some separate areas. .. ." (at p. 44)

            "My first studio was located in the Chicago Loop, on Wabash Avenue, near Van Buren. This was one of the early Chicago buildings and was occupied by a number of artists. One of them . . . recommended me. . . to the President of the Schiller Theater Building, Anton C. Hessing.. . . I should mention that Mr. Hessing was a very influential person among the large German-speaking population in Chicago and was a formidable political power in the city. He was the Editor of the "Illinois Staats-Zeitung" newspaper, and his son was a Postmaster." (at p. 45)

            "Mr. Hessing was pleased with my presentation and asked me to see Mr. Louis H. Sullivan, the eminent architect of the Schiller Building. . . ." (at p. 45)

            "[After some back and forth] . . . Mr. Sullivan directed me to go into the drafting room and see Mr. [Frank Lloyd] = Wright, who would furnish me with blue prints and explain them to me. . . . Going into the drafting room, I had my first meeting with Frank Lloyd Wright." (at p. 46)

            "There was a frantic effort to complete the Schiller Theater Building in time for the scheduled opening of the theater. . . ."(at p. 46)

            "It was almost a year before the opening of the World's Columbian Exposition, better known as the Chicago World's Fair. All the buildings were completed and ready for the exhibits to be put in place.
    The immense Manufacturers' Building was a wonderfully impressive structure, and, no doubt, deserved to stand next to the gem of all the buildings, Sullivan's Transportation Building, with its rainbow arch entrance. . . ."(at p. 47)

            "Now that the Schiller theater was completed, I, still, had a considerable amount of work that needed attention. There  was an exhibition piece [that] I was to do for the Manufacturers' Building, the Schlitz Brewery trademark of a huge globe, with a buckled belt around it. This globe was supported by four female figures, in playful poses, representing the four hemispheres. At their feet were gnomes. Flanking this centerpiece were four pedestals constructed of beer kegs, three to a pedestal, and, on top of each, a herald blowing a trumpet. This work was in charge of an assistant named Franz Rugiska, with whom I had made a partnership agreement. He had come to me from Mr. Sullivan's sculptor, Mr.Boyle, who had worked on the Transportation Building, while I was doing the Schiller Theater." (at pp. 47-48)

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Added comments from John Notz, Jr. - "While I have no evidence of a connection between Uihlein and Bock, I cannot imagine who else could have been the SLZ representative for contracting for this substantial work. I have never examined any of the extant terra cotta globes, to see if they bear any artist's mark."

  (Note: We are not affiliated with the Jos. Schlitz Brewing Co. or endorsed by them. Any Schlitz trademarks displayed, or  brands mentioned are the sole ownership of the Jos. Schlitz Brewing Co.)