Richard Nickel

Richard Nickel was born on May 31, 1928 and passed away onApril 13, 1972.  He was a polish american who grew up in Chicago in he Humbolt park area. He served in the military as a paratrooper and a photographer. “Richard Nickel had never given architecture any serious thought, or even heard of Louis Sullivan, before he enrolled in a photography class at the Institute of Design in Chicago in the early 1950s. There, photography teacher Aaron Siskind gave Nickel and his classmates a simple assignment: go out and photograph Sullivan's buildings. It was an assignment that would change Nickel's life as he became captivated by Sullivan's decorative details. As he continued to photograph the buildings, he began to devour Sullivan's writings. In Louis Sullivan, Richard Nickel had found a kindred spirit.” Nickel began documenting every known Sullivan building. But soon the buildings started being destroyed and he realized that he should also be saving as much of he could from every Louis Sullivan building. Richard nickel tried really hard to save the Garrick building and it was the first time he wanted to safe a building but the demolition of it was approved. 

                   

                      

                    

                 

Unable to stop the demolition, Nickel and a partner were able to save a significant portion of the building's ornament, including the complete interior of the Trading Room, which was later recreated at the Art Institute. Even after the official salvage operation ended, Nickel kept returning to the site for more pieces. On April 13, 1972, he disappeared. A month later, after a protracted search, his body was found in the rubble of the building. He had been crushed when the Trading Room floor collapsed.

The Art Institute of Chicago has many more of his pictures,

http://www.artic.edu/aic/collections/artwork/artist/Nickel,+Richard