Ivan Bartlett / Chicago

I came across this painting I've had for years in storage while I was pulling things out for Downtown Modernism. I decided I would sell it.

I don't remember when or where I bought it but it was several years ago. Anyway, after second thought, I decided to leave it at home and do some research.

It turns out there's an interesting story. The artist is Ivan Bartlett, who was California-born and a Graduate of Chouinard Art institute of Los Angeles. He is most known as a textile designer but was also muralist. This includes a number of WPA murals.  His work was also exhibited at the San Francisco and New York World Fairs. He was the winner of the 1947 award of the American Institute of Design. He also had a piece in An Exhibition for Modern Living, which was curated by Alexander Girard and held at the Detroit Institute of Arts in 1949. 

The painting shows points of interest around Chicago, including the Ambassador East hotel. For some reason that stood out to me 

The Ambassador East opened in 1926. A venture by hoteliers Frank Bering and Ernie Byfield. 
Walter T. Stockton was the architect of the 17 story brick structure.


In 1937 Samuel Marx was commissioned to redesign a restaurant space in the hotel called the Pump Room, which is also depicted on the painting. Incidentally, Marx often used Dorothy Liebes textiles for his projects. The Pump Room was a Chicago institution and hosted many celebrities. 

Jumping ahead to 1951, Liebes was asked to design a deluxe suite at the hotel. It weas decked out in Dunbar furniture and Dorothy's textiles.  The theme of the room was described as "California-Come-to-Chicago". The suite was named after Liebes and included a silver plaque with her name on it.

The project received a lot of publicity.  This end of this 1951 Chicago Tribune quote is just great: "The Dorothy Liebes suite in the Ambassador East hotel, named for its decorator, America's foremost weaver, will be launched today with a champagne party. Guests, in keeping with the loomed theme of the room, plus the bubbly, will be expected to walk in and weave."

Source: Buffalo Courier Express, 1951


There is a Liebes stick weave panel in the foreground perhaps in front of a fireplace, that seems a bit dicey to be honest. However, doesn't that painting back there look sort of familiar?

Ivan and Dorothy Liebes seemed to be good friends. There are several letters between the two in her archive at The Smithsonian.

Many of them include mentions of Dorothy trying to help Ivan with his struggling career.  She even encourages him to move to New York where she says all the jobs are, which he eventually does.

Source: Dorothy Liebes Papers at The Smithsonian

She also included two of his designs in her car design concept.

So it makes sense that Dorothy called on her fiend Ivan to paint two pieces for her Ambassador East hotel suite. This article is the first thing I discovered that seemed like it could be my painting.

Source: Chicago Tribune, March 18, 1951

It wasn't until I found this clipping in her archive at the Smithsonian that I knew it was.

It was part of her scrapbook. There are a number of pages dedicated to the Ambassador East project. 

Source: Dorothy Liebes Papers at The Smithsonian

Ivan's second painting is seen here. It shows the Great Lakes. He also designed one of the wallpaper patterns used in the room. 

Her scrapbook was so fun to go through. Here are the MoMA Good Design clippings.

Now the question is how did this Chicago painting from the room designed as"California-Come-to-Chicago" make it to California for me to find? 

It could have been an auction, like this one held in 1976 for the contents of the Pump Room restaurant in the Ambassador. Can you imagine if all the Samuel Marx furniture was part of the sale??