Architect Clinton J. Warren Original Architectural Pen & Ink Drawing

Chicago, Illinois.

In a four-year span from 1889 to 1893, architect Clinton J. Warren designed five major Chicago hotels, including two that would later become headquarters for gangster Al Capone. Architectural critic and expert on the Chicago School of architecture Carl W. Condit called Warren “the acknowledged leader among the architects of hotels and apartments.” While some of these glamorous and significant buildings survived well into the second half of the 20th Century, only one still stands today.
Clinton J. Warren was born in Massachusetts in 1860, and made his way to Chicago in 1879. He began his architectural career with the firm of Burnham and Root in 1880, and by 1886 left to begin his own firm. One of Warren’s prominent early buildings still standing today is the gothic limestone Church of Our Savior (1888) at 530 W. Fullerton Avenue in the Lincoln Park neighborhood.
In addition to his early 1890s hotels and apartments, Warren designed the impressive Unity Building at 127 N. Dearborn Street. The building stood for nearly 100 years on what would become known as Block 37 in Downtown Chicago, across the street from the future Daley Center Plaza. In 1895, Warren was one of the top candidates to build an enormous Federal Building and Post Office on the block bounded by Dearborn, Adams, Clark, and Jackson. The contract to design the building went to Henry Ives Cobb; ironically, it would be the site of the courtroom where Capone was convicted of tax evasion in 1931.
In the late 1890s, Warren returned to his native Massachusetts and set up a more modest architectural practice that designed many commercial and industrial buildings in the Boston area, on the East Coast, and in a few international locations. Through the early part of the 20th Century, Warren’s once impressive reputation faded in Chicago architectural circles. But nothing he produced in Boston matched the drama, elegance, and significance of his early work in Chicago.


Artist: Clinton J. Warren 
Medium: Pen & Ink 
Date: Circa 1920's 
Signed: l/r "Clinton J. Warren - Architect" 
Style: Architectural Design 
Origin: American 
Size: SS 16 x 24" 
Frame: Mahogany 24 x 32" 
Provenance: Hill House 
Condition: Some minor foxing. Some water staining on matting only not effecting drawing. Very good plus 
Subject References: Architect Clinton J. Warren

Any description and/or condition statement is given as a courtesy to a client, is only an opinion and should not be treated as a statement of fact. Orange County Estate Liquidators shall have no responsibility for any error or omission. The absence of a condition statement does not imply that the lot is in perfect condition or completely free from wear and tear, imperfections or the effects of aging.Unless otherwise stated, all artwork sold by Orange County Estate Liquidators is assumed to be "after", "school of", "manner of" or "circle of" and will carry no warranties or guarantees as to authorship or authenticity whether stated or implied by other parts of this agreement or description. Ignorance of terms by buyer (s) is no excuse to bring action against the auction house or consignor.