remarkable midway gardens alfonso iannelli-designed concrete "sprite" head cast directly from an original

very few of the original "sprite" statues adorning midway gardens survived demolition in 1929. the indoor/outdoor entertainment facility was constructed in 1914 with frank lloyd wright as architect. the full-bodied statues were designed and executed by notable industrial designer and sculptor, alfonso iannelli. wright took much of the credit with the design process, which greatly upset iannelli to the point where the possibility of future collaborations where completely off to the table; including iannelli declining the opportunity to work again with wright on the imperial hotel (1919-1923).

two of the original full-bodied sprites were brought to tailiesin west when they were either acquired from the edelweiss brewery complex company (who took over the gardens and greatly modified it), or during the time when several fragments were discovered in a wisconsin field many years later. the extant statues were painted over in an ugly polychromatic color scheme by some of wright's students sometime in the 1940's. the statues remain standing on the grounds of tailiesin west, where they can be seen during one of the tours there. during the 1980's olgivanna lloyd wright granted permission to have the two sprites replicated (in full scale), where they can be found on the grounds of the sprawling arizona biltmore hotel (1929).

additional sprite fragments were recovered (likely from wisconsin or directly from the wrecker) and are displayed in various museums and/or housed in private collections. in march of 2014 a sprite head was offered to the public by sotheby's auction house with a realized price of 20,000 usd, but some experts have challenged its authenticity. another sprite head came across christie's auction block in 1996, where it sold for 36,800 usd.

the sprite head displayed below is a well-executed replication taken directly from the mold of an original sprite head fragment housed here in a private chicago collection. the original full-bodied sprite needs major restoration as it currently sits as a pile of concrete fragments that need to be carefully stabilized, reassembled and touched up where surface damage is evident. although the restoration has yet to move forward, a few heads were replicated in order to experiment with various cement concoctions and finishes required to patch the original once it gets reassembled.

i'm very much against possessing anything reproduction - especially since the widely available, mass-produced full-bodied replicas are horribly crafted, and by no means come close to the scale of an original, but in this unique case, i was more than willing to accept this format, as it represents, quite accurately, the exact scale and surface texture and material and/or composition of an original. only 2 or 3 heads were cast if i remember correctly. the price wasn't by any means cheap, but certainly affordable given what it is. i'm sure an original, authenticated sprite head will surface again at auction, so in the meantime, i can admire the one i now have, which displays well in my collection with the custom steel stand supporting it.

michael grucza, who is a highly regarded restoration artist and sculptor (mentioned in an earlier post) created this sprite head and stand. grucza has worked on a wide array of restorations and/or repairs of numerous, historically-important wright and sullivan artifacts over a span of three decades.