Famed modern architect Louis Sullivan and his two masterpieces in Chicago

On a recent walk through Graceland Cemetery in north Chicago, just a stone’s throw from the iconic Wrigley Field, I came across two mausoleums that immediately caught my attention with their distinctiveness and artistry.

The Getty Family Mausoleum, designed by the celebrated architect Louis Henry Sullivan in 1890, and the Ryerson Mausoleum, completed in 1887, are two starkly contrasting pieces of design. Both were commissioned by business partners in the lumber trade: Getty and Martin Ryerson.

Sullivan, a pioneer of modern American architecture, used these two mausoleums to showcase his remarkable vision in very different ways. The Getty tomb is made from limestone and is an elegant, sculptural masterpiece. In contrast, the Ryerson tomb is an imposing pyramid of polished black granite, its angular form creating a striking visual contrast against the softer, more organic lines of the Getty mausoleum.

Frank Lloyd Wright, who admired Sullivan’s work greatly, described the Getty mausoleum as “entirely Sullivan’s own, a piece of sculpture, a statue, a great poem.” The words perfectly capture the mausoleum’s ethereal quality, standing as a testament to Sullivan’s genius.