Art Institute of Chicago

Skyscraper Cabinet

Paul Theodore Frankl · c. 1927

Analyst brief

What the record supports

The "Skyscraper Cabinet" is a work of case furniture created by Paul Theodore Frankl around 1927. Crafted from wood and paint, it measures 213.4 × 83.8 × 40 cm (84 × 33 × 15 3/4 in.). The object was acquired by the Art Institute of Chicago as a gift from the Antiquarian Society through Mr. and Mrs. Thomas B. Hunter III and Mr. and Mrs. Morris S. Weeden, and is classified within the Arts of the Americas department, representing the culture of New York City.

The cabinet's known provenance includes a private collection in New York, followed by a private collection in Michigan from 1986. It was then held by Historical Design, Inc., New York City, until 1998, when it was sold to the Art Institute of Chicago. No exhibition history is provided in the supplied data.

Paul Theodore Frankl (1886–1958) is described as an American architect. The catalogue data does not specify his nationality, but his birth and death years are confirmed. The cabinet has been documented in several publications, including *Art Institute of Chicago Museum Studies* (2001), Christopher Long's *Paul T. Frankl and Modern American Design* (2007), *Studies in the Decorative Arts* (2007), and *American Modernism at the Art Institute of Chicago* (2009). No comparable holdings of this specific object are provided in the supplied data.

Generated from the catalogue fields shown on this page. Nartmad does not assert attributions, valuations or prices that no cited source supports.

Provenance

Ownership history

Private collection, New York; private collection, Michigan, 1986; Historical Design, Inc., New York City, to 1998; sold to the Art Institute of Chicago, 1998.

Recorded by Art Institute of Chicago.

Literature

Published references

Jennifer M. Downs, “ ‘The New Modern Feeling’: A Catalogue of the Collection,” Art Institute of Chicago Museum Studies 27, 2 (2001), 18, 30–32, no. 5.
Christopher Long, "Paul T. Frankl and Modern American Design" (Yale University Press, 2007), 70–71, 74, fig. 59.
Christopher Long, "The Viennese Secessionsstil and Modern American Design" Studies int he Decorative Arts 14, 2 (Spring–Summer 2007), 6–44 (ill.).
Judith A. Barter, et al., <em>American Modernism at the Art Institute of Chicago, From World War I to 1955</em> (Art Institute of Chicago, 2009), cat. 48.

Comparables