Unveiled amid towering Victorian Gothic walls and stained-glass biblical figures at a Near West Side church, was an oil portrait of the late architect who designed them — John Mills Van Osdel.
On Thursday morning, the portrait was donated at the Church of the Holy Family by Van Osdel’s great-great-grand-nephew, Burtram Collver Hopkins II. The church, which was designed in the late 1850s, will share the portrait with St. Ignatius College Prep, neighbors with the church at 1080 W. Roosevelt Road. The painting will hang in a newly built gallery connecting the two buildings.
“This is a very momentous unveiling here that captures the essence of Chicago and over 190 years [of history],” said John Chandler, president of St. Ignatius.
The Victorian-style portrait of Van Osdel, regarded as the city’s first registered architect, was painted by Elizabeth Van Osdel Cowan, his great-niece, and was passed down in his family. Briefly misplaced, the portrait recently was found and restored by their family.
During his 60-year career, Van Osdel designed more than 800 churches, seminaries, synagogues, apartments, hotels, schools, theaters, fraternal buildings, courthouses, banks, prisons, warehouses, factories, offices and residential structures in the Chicago area and throughout the Midwest and Arkansas, according church and school officials.
One of his first major commissions was to design a residence for William B. Ogden, Chicago’s first mayor, in 1837 — the Greek revival residence at 50 E. Ontario St., was destroyed in the Great Chicago Fire of 1871, as were many of Van Osdel’s buildings, officials said.
Hopkins, a retired architect himself, said he knew about Van Osdel, but got really interested in him 25 years ago. The portrait also is the cover of Hopkins’ new book, “John Mills Van Osdel, Architect, and his Chicago.”
“He was the first architect in Chicago, [he] opened his office in 1844, and his namesake nephew joined him after the Civil War and continued the practice even after Van Osdel’s death … very prolific, [he] designed over probably 800 buildings during his lifetime,” Hopkins said.
Some of his works that were destroyed in the Great Chicago Fire include Chicago City Hall, Tremont House, the first Palmer House and the Masonic Temple, officials said.
Among his 28 existing works are the Church of the Holy Family — which survived the fire — the Illinois Governor’s Mansion, Page Brothers Building, the Peck Estate and the Old Main building at North Central College in Naperville.
Ward Miller, executive director of Preservation Chicago, said Van Osdel buildings are important because they are from a different era.
“His buildings are so early and different than what Chicago is really known for on the world stage,” said Miller, who added that Chicago today is recognized for its modernist international style, popularized by Ludwig Mies van der Rohe and modern skyscrapers.
Alex Severino, an architect who attended St. Ignatius next door, said the painting might help people remember Van Osdel.
“It’s a Van Osdel revival. We’re putting his name back out there, and come and see this magnificent work that he did, which is a testament,” said Severino, referring to the Church of the Holy Family.
The Church of the Holy Family is open to the general public, however, a viewing of the portrait of John Mills Van Osdel, along with a tour of the church, requires an appointment.