“Spindles” / “Sprites”: Frank Lloyd Wright / Alfonso Iannelli

Concrete Spindle sculptures, Midway Gardens, Chicago. 1913-14.
photograph by versluis

This photograph was taken at the “Modernism’s Messengers: The Art of Alfonso and Margaret Iannelli” exhibition at the Chicago Cultural Center. This important show ended in August 2013.

For these pieces the exhibition label states: “Often erroneously referred to as Sprites by today’s historians, these well-known Midway Gardens sculptures were referred to as Spindles at the time of heir creation. Frank Lloyd Wright largely determined the design, but the playful personality of the executed sculptures can be strongly attributed to Alfonso Iannelli.”

The following reflects the greater context of the Iannelli’s body of art and design work: “They weren’t looking for the rarified environment of galleries and museums,” said Tim Samuelson, Iannelli expert and cultural historian for Chicago, curator of the exhibit at the Chicago Cultural Center. “They wanted to put vital, modern art where you could see it, just walking down the street or opening a magazine or going to a theater and seeing a poster on the wall.”(1)

1. Burrows, Sara. “Art with a job to do: The Modernism of Alfonso and Margaret Iannelli.” Niles Herald-Spectator. Chicago Sun-Times, 10 Aug. 2013. Web. 31 Oct. 2013. http://niles.suntimes.com/things-to-do/arts/iannelli-DIC-08082013:article.