IL_Chicago--The Franklin Building

Oskar Gross was the "...son of architect Rudolf Gross and Jeanette Kurzweil,...born in Vienna on November 29, 1871. He was educated at the Viennese Polytechnic Institute and at the Vienna Imperial Academy of Fine Arts. At the age of 27, Gross successfully entered and won a competition to exhibit at the 1900 Exposition Universelle in Paris, where Chicago Architect Daniel Burnham "discovered" him.Gross came to Chicago in 1902 developing a successful practice as a muralist, portrait painter, illustrator and sculptor… .”⁶ “Through his connections with Burnham he was soon in demand as a muralist throughout the country and from 1902 until 1912 he painted murals in many Chicago buildings and elsewhere.”⁷ “Gross first exhibited at the Art Institute of Chicago in 1911 and began to associate more with painters rather than architects, developing a camaraderie and lifestyle similar to the one he had led in Vienna, where he had been associated with the Vienna Secession. He set up a studio in Chicago and devoted himself to figure and genre painting. During his time in Chicago, he belonged to the Arts Club, Cliff Dwellers, Chicago Painters and Sculptors, and the Palette and Chisel Club. ...Although most of his portrait commissions were from members of the upper class, Gross was much more interested in working class subjects.”⁸

The process that Gross used for the Franklin Building murals was to first make a painting of the panel subjects. These color paintings were then meticulously reproduced on tiles.² The “colored tile[...was] made expressly for the structure by the Maw Company, of England.”⁴ (This is in dispute. See footnote 3 below.) "The [Maw Tile Company] was formed in 1850 by George Maw and his brother Arthur when they bought an ailing tile business in Worcester. They manufactured floor tiles and quickly gained a high reputation for their encaustic 'Mock-Mediaeval' tiles. However, they had to contend with the same problems as the company they had bought out– the local clays were unsuitable and materials had to be brought in at great expense from Shropshire. In 1852 they relocated to the Benthall Works at Broseley where they could make use of the clay as well as coal. The brothers soon opened their own mines. At first the company barely covered its expenses and full commercial production did not begin until 1857. A few years later encaustic tiles became the height of fashion. Maw & Co were the first to use six and more colours. Mosaic tiles also formed a large part of Maw's business. In 1862 a patent mosaic tile was introduced. At the same time George Maw was experimenting with majolica glazes and later on with faience. Transfer printed and hand painted picture tiles were produced as well as relief tiles and gilt ones with the entire design executed in gold. By the 1880’s Maw & Co had become one of the most influential and important tile manufacturers. To help meet the increasing demand Maw & Co made more and more mechanical improvements using steam driven tile presses for example and in 1883 moved to new premises at a more appropriate site at Jackfield... . At the end of the century Maw’s was the largest tile factory in the world. Art Nouveau designs were followed by unique Art Deco geometric styles. Unfortunately the recession at the end of the First World War and building restrictions and the closure of the railway in the decades following World War II were very detrimental for tile production in Jackfield and eventually the factory closed in January 1970."⁹

Submitted by Michael Padwee (tileback101'at'collector.org) in May 2013; additions made in January 2015.

All color photos courtesy of Bill Badzo (Onasill),

http://www.flickr.com/photos/7156765@N05/.

The polychrome tiles in this panel were made by the

American Terra Cotta Company/Teco, and the panel

was exhibited at the 1912 International Clay Products

Exposition in Chicago.¹³