Christmas at Charnley

BY JEFF ROSENBERG

Louis Sullivan specifically designed both the Charnley-Norwood House and his own adjacent home as retreats to escape Chicago’s brutal winters. He would travel south for the winter, usually beginning sometime in October and stay until mid-March, returning to Chicago intermittently as his architectural practice required. The following excerpt is one instance of Sullivan writing to a colleague regarding the Christmas of 1901 he and his wife Margaret would spend in Ocean Springs;

Below is a 1923 Christmas card from Sullivan to his former draftsman, Homer Sailor. On the face of the card, Sullivan drew an image reminiscent of the florid architectural ornament that he was famous for producing. While the choice to adorn a card with a decoration of his own design is obvious, there may be a deeper meaning. From 1922 through 1923, at the request of the Art Institute of Chicago’s Burnham Library, Sullivan

“I find your charming Xmas note upon my return from the South, where I spent the holidays with Margaret. All you say from the kindness of your heart, we reciprocate in full measure. We had a most delightful Xmas—lunch on the gallery, etc.—temp. 72—birds singing, waters sparkling—a perfect Ocean Springs day. Margaret remains in the south for a while, and I miss her terribly.”

-Excerpt of letter from Louis Sullivan to Lyndon Smith. January 11, 1902

worked on 20 sheets of drawings that would illustrate his system for posterity. Sullivan would certainly have been doing quite a bit of ornament drawing at the time. Christmas 1923 was the last Christmas Sullivan would live to see, as he would pass away on April 14, 1924. Shortly before his passing, printed copies of his book A System of Architectural Ornament, which contained the 20 sheets of drawings, were presented to a much-contented Sullivan. Notable in both the letter excerpt and the Christmas card is the styling by Sullivan of “Christmas” as “Xmas.” Webster’s Dictionary cites the first use of this term as originating in 1551, but the roots of the term are likely much older. The X in Xmas stands for the Greek letter chi that looks just like our X and is the first letter of Christ in Greek. For many centuries, this letter has been used as an abbreviation and a symbol for Christ.

Christmas card from Louis Sullivan to Homer Sailor. From the Sailor, Homer Grant, Papers, 1914-1993 collection of the Ryerson Burnham Archives at the Art Institute of Chicago.