Midcentury art and architecture are too often studied separately. In the case of Roger Brown and Ludwig Mies van der Rohe, the cultural influences and societal undercurrents acting on these great Chicago Modernists brought their work closer together. Brown the artist and Mies the architect were towering figures in their respective practices—beacons of pure intention and masterful execution.
Many of Brown’s paintings ruminate on buildings and contemporary cityscapes, and architecture was central to Brown and his life partner, George Veronda, an accomplished architect and designer. Not by accident, Mies’ restrained architectural compositions double as exceptional showcases for Modern art, in both residential and commercial contexts.
This panel discussion provides fresh perspectives on the aesthetic interplay and philosophical crosscurrents that informed the careers of two of the 20th century’s most distinctive creative minds.
Panelists include: Valerie Balint, Senior Program Manager, Historic Artists’ Homes and Studios Program, National Trust for Historic Preservation; Michelangelo Sabatino Professor + Director, PhD Program in Architecture, Illinois Institute of Technology College of Architecture; and Lisa Wainwright, Professor, Department of Art History, Theory and Criticism, School of the Art Institute of Chicago.
This program is presented in partnership with the Edith Farnsworth House, where the exhibition Roger Brown and Miesian Metropolitanism, curated by Kavi Gupta Gallery and the Roger Brown Study Collection, is on view from August 7—November 27, 2022.
