# Peoples Savings Bank [View the canonical artwork record]() ## Artwork - Artist: [SULLIVAN, Louis Henry]() - Date: 1851-1900 - Technique: Photo ## Commentary The last phase in Sullivan's career was largely devoted to designing banks in small towns in the Midwest. Midwestern agriculture thrived in the early 20th century, leading to a revolution in rural banking and the proliferation of small institutions sympathetic to local needs. Sullivan's first commission in this field was the magnificent National Farmers' Bank \(1907-08\) in <a onclick="return OpenOther\('/html/s/sullivan/81natio1.html'\)" href="/html/s/sullivan/81natio1.html">Owatonna, Minnesota.</a> It was followed by the People's Savings Bank \(1911\), <a onclick="return OpenOther\('/html/s/sullivan/82people.html'\)" href="/html/s/sullivan/82people.html">Cedar Rapids, Iowa;</a> the Merchants' Bank \(1914\), <a onclick="return OpenOther\('/html/s/sullivan/83merch1.html'\)" href="/html/s/sullivan/83merch1.html">Grinnell, Iowa;</a> the Home Building Association Bank \(1914\), <a onclick="return OpenOther\('/html/s/sullivan/84homeb1.html'\)" href="/html/s/sullivan/84homeb1.html">Newark, Ohio;</a> the Purdue State Bank \(1914\), <a onclick="return OpenOther\('/html/s/sullivan/85purdu1.html'\)" href="/html/s/sullivan/85purdu1.html">West Lafayette, Indiana;</a> the People's Federal Savings and Loan Association \(1917-18\), <a onclick="return OpenOther\('/html/s/sullivan/86peofe1.html'\)" href="/html/s/sullivan/86peofe1.html">Sidney, Ohio;</a> and finally the Farmers and Merchants Union Bank \(1919\) in <a onclick="return OpenOther\('/html/s/sullivan/87farmer.html'\)" href="/html/s/sullivan/87farmer.html">Columbus, Wisconsin.</a> These buildings posed no problems in the expression of structure, as they were all low, load-bearing brick constructions; they did, however, raise important questions of institutional expression. Sullivan's solution was to make them monumental, as befitted banks, but 'modern' and unrelated to historical precedent in order to communicate their transformed character. They are the final and most richly impressive demonstrations of his ornamental skill, with their rich use of polychromy in brick and terracotta. Furthermore, the design of each was sensitively adapted to its setting, usually at the end of the main street facing the town square \(as at Owatonna, Grinnell, Newark, Sidney, and Columbus\). At Cedar Rapids, the bricks for the exterior of the building were produced in 15 different shades, producing, as Sullivan remarked, "the effect of an antique Oriental rug." ## Related artworks - [Auditorium Building: façade \(detail\)]() - [Auditorium Building: façade]() - [Auditorium Building: general view]() - [Carson, Pirie, Scott & Company Building: entrance]() - [Carson, Pirie, Scott & Company Building]() - [Carson, Pirie, Scott & Company Building]() - [Farmers and Merchants Union Bank]() - [Guaranty Building]() - [Harold C. Bradley House]() - [Home Building Association Bank]() - [Home Building Association Bank]() - [Home Building Association Bank]() ## Attribution [Web Gallery of Art]()