Richard Nickel

Richard Nickel studied at Illinois Institute of Technology and IIT Institute of Design. The recorded working language is German. Residence is recorded at Logan Square. Work by Richard Nickel is recorded in the collections of The Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art and Art Institute of Chicago.

• Name — Richard Nickel • Born — 31 May 1928 • Birthplace — Chicago, Illinois, U.S. • Died — 13 April 1972 • Place of death — Chicago, Illinois, U.S. • Resting Place — Graceland Cemetery • Occupation — Architectural photographer, Historical preservationist • Illustration — Richard Nickel Studio and residence, in Bucktown Chicago

Richard Nickel was born in the Chicago neighborhood of Humboldt Park in a two-flat located at 4327 W. Haddon. He was raised by first-generation Polish Americans with his grandfather John Nikiel, born in Posen, Germany in 1880. Richard's father, Stanley, a driver for the Polish Daily News, Americanized the surname to Nickel in the face of Anti-Polish sentiment. The family soon moved to 4329 W. Crystal where a young Richard attended grammar school at St. Cyril and Methodius. It was here that Richard first became fascinated by light as he stared at the saintly figures drawn in stained glass. Nickel would tell a reporter in 1969 "That makes an impression on you that you never completely forget. It might be subconscious and, at some point, something triggers it." The family moved to a second floor apartment at 2457 N. Rockwell in the Logan Square community, while Nickel was in fifth grade and enrolled at St. John Berchman's School. At the time the neighborhood was predominately Polish, and years later Nickel described it as the "Polish neighborhood where I became happily abnormal". The family lived near Logan Boulevard, an area lined with historic mansions and wide parkways that would later become recognized as a Chicago Landmark. More important was his father Stanley's acute interest in photography which Richard would take up as well. In 1948 after leaving the Army, Nickel was given a victory medal and subsequently enrolled at the Institute of Design, which became part of IIT- The Illinois Institute of Technology. The school was housed in the former Chicago Historical Society building, located at 632 N. Dearborn (northwest corner of Dearborn and Ontario streets). Nickel married a young Polish American girl named Adrienne Dembo at St. Wenceslaus Church, noted for its Art Deco design, on June 10, 1950. Shortly after, Richard was recalled to serve in the Korean War. After Richard's return a few years later, he was a changed man, with recurring nightmares that he was still in Korea. His mother-in law commented that she saw him as a "casualty of war." The marriage finally ended in divorce.

Nickel's home at 1810 West Cortland Street in Bucktown, Chicago served as his base for photography and salvage operations. Infatuated with the brick building's front elevation, simple floor plan, and history, Nickel referred to it as his "Polish Palazzo". He worked hard to restore the building.

Nickel's black-and-white photos have been displayed at the Art Institute of Chicago and elsewhere. The Richard Nickel Committee and Photographic Archive, a non-profit organization was devoted to preserving the photographer's work for more than 40 years, and holds the copyrights for most of his pictures. Nickel died without completing a book that he had begun in the 1950s, of his large collection of photographs of Sullivan's work that he took. The book was finally completed and published in 2010, The Complete Architecture of Adler & Sullivan — by Richard Nickel, with Aaron Siskind, John Vinci, and Ward Miller.

Richard Nickel's works, which include negatives, photographs, and research papers, have been donated to the Ryerson and Burnham Libraries at the Art Institute of Chicago by the Richard Nickel Committee in 2010. The Richard Nickel Archive collection is accessible to the public at the Art Institute, along with a finding aid to the collection. Also, more than 1,300 images from the Richard Nickel Committee's donated collection are available for viewing online at the Ryerson and Burnham Libraries' website pages for the Richard Nickel Archive. Numerous duplicate photographs have been donated over time to other institutions, including The Arts Club of Chicago, the Society of Architectural Historians, Landmarks Illinois, and Preservation Chicago. Photographs of the Garrick Theatre were donated by the Richard Nickel Committee to the collection of the Polish Museum of America in Chicago.