Louis Grell

Louis Grell was born in Iowa in 1887 and began making art at an early age. After formal training in Europe he returned to the United States in the mid-1910s and began to design stage sets for Broadway productions. In 1916 Grell began teaching at the Chicago Academy of Fine Arts where Walt Disney was one of his pupils. Grell lived and worked at the Tree Studios artist colony in Chicago from 1917 until his death in 1960. The colony, still in use today, provided residence to many artists across multiple disciplines including author Edgar Rice Burroughs, painter Richard Florsheim, actor Peter Falk, and many others.

During Grell’s career he received many commissions to paint theatre murals. A number of these came through his relationship with the Chicago based architectural firm Rapp & Rapp, a firm known for its lavishly designed movie palaces. The Chicago theatre was one of their flagship buildings and Grell was asked to paint 14 murals in the auditorium. The theatre opened in 1921 and was eventually renovated by the operators Balaban & Katz in preparation for the 1933 World’s Fair held in Chicago. Grell was brought back in to repaint his original 14 murals, and it is these paintings that are still decorating the auditorium today. Above is the “Apollo” mural that is over the proscenium arch. The massive painting measures 45 feet wide by 15 feet in height.

The Paramount theatre that once stood in Ft. Wayne, IN had two grand murals on each wall of its lobby. The murals were lost when the theatre was demolished so not much is known about them but a sketch uncovered by the Grell Foundation is over 30 feet tall and hints at the size and coloring of the murals. To learn more about Louis Grell and to see the sketch visit the Louis Grell Foundation at www.louisgrell.com