Louis Grell Foundation

"Showcasing the Legacy of Artist Louis Frederick Grell"

Exhibitions & Commissions


Known Exhibitions

1906 Dresden Exposition-Third German Arts & Crafts Exhibition. Grell exhibits Orpheus, Evening on the Lake and Bacchus
1907-1915 Group Exhibits Hamburg, Berlin and Munich                                      1907 San Francisco (large painting from Salt Lake City)
1917 Winter Group Exhibition Art Institute of Chicago Four Pieces (three oils and one sculpture)
1917 Summer Favor, Ruhl & Company Group Exhibit Chicago
1917 December Aeolian Vocalian Hall Group Exhibit Chicago
1918 Winter Group Exhibit Art Institute of Chicago                                               1918 Summer Red Cross War Exhibit (Palette & Chisel Club members)
1920 Winter Group Exhibition Art Institute of Chicago
1921 Winter Group Exhibition Art Institute of Chicago
1921 Summer Group Exhibition Rothchilds Dept. Store Salon des Refuses
1922 Winter Group Exhibition Art Institute of Chicago prize winner “The Garden of the Infanta”
1922 Winter School Art Institute of Chicago Alumni Exhibition Jury Member
1923 Winter Swedish Club of Chicago Jury Member Selection and Awards
1923 Winter Group Exhibition Art Institute of Chicago
1924 Winter Group Exhibition Art Institute of Chicago
1924 May O’Brien-Jacobus Galleries Exhibit
1924 May Exhibit Swedish-American Art Association
1925 Winter Group Exhibit Art Institute of Chicago
1926 Spring Swedish-American Art Association Exhibit                                        1926 Fall Minneapolis Institute of Arts Jury Member with John Warner Norton
1927 Summer Palette and Chisel Club Jury Member
1928 Winter Marshall Field’s Galleries Hoosier Salon Exhibit Jury Member
1928 Summer Illinois Woman’s Athletic Club Beidler Gallery Men Painters of Chicago & Illinois
1928 Summer Illinois Academy of Fine Arts Exhibit
1929 Spring Group Exhibition Teachers at the School of the Art Institute of Chicago
1929 Summer Illinois Academy of Fine Arts Exhibit
1930 Winter Group Exhibition Art Institute of Chicago Prize Winner “Destiny”
1930 March Art League Group Exhibit Oak Park ILL
1930 April Jury Member Outdoor Advertising Agency of America Poster Competition
1932 Works by Artist Who Won Prizes at the Art Institute of Chicago
1932 Summer Group Exhibition Tree Studio Art Colony
1933 Winter Group Exhibition Art Institute of Chicago
1933 Summer Stevens Galleries Chicago Worlds Fair Exhibition “Century of Progress” by Artists’ of Illinois

1933 Cliff Dwellers Burlesque Exhibit
1934 Summer Committee Member Overseas Exhibition Art Institute of Chicago
1935 March Chicago Galleries 3 Person Show
1935 March Anderson Galleries Exhibit
1936 Winter Group Exhibition Art Institute of Chicago Prize Winner “Portrait of the Artist, Moessel”
1936 June Davis Store Galleries 3 Man Show with Julius Moessel and Charles Holloway
1937 Winter Group Exhibition Art Institute of Chicago
1937 Winter Marshall Field’s Galleries Hoosier Salon Jury Member
1938 Winter Group Exhibition Art Institute of Chicago
1938 June Chicago New Century Committee Navy Pier Group Exhibition
1939 Winter Group Exhibition Art Institute of Chicago
1941 Winter Group Exhibit Art Institute of Chicago
1941 Spring Swedish-American Art Association Exhibit
1943 February Chicago Galleries Chicago Association of Painters and Sculptors
1943 Summer Municipal Art League Tree Studio Art Colony Exhibit
1945 February Chicago Galleries Chicago Association of Painters and Sculptors
1949 Spring Swedish-American Art Association Exhibit
1952 Summer One Man Show Exhibit Congress Hotel Chicago
1952-1960’s Exhibits at Stevens & Florentine Parlos, Congress Hotel, Chicago
1955 Spring Cromer & Quint Galleries Tree Studio Artist Colony Exhibit
1955 Summer Chicago Galleries Association of Chicago Painters and Sculptors
1956 Summer Jury of Awards Member Swedish Artists of Chicago Show
1957 Winter No-Jury Exhibition Art Institute of Chicago Navy Pier Chicago Artists Organization
1974 October Taos Artists Exhibition Brent Galleries Santa Fe, NM
1974 December Two Person Show with Macena Barton, McNeilan Galleries Chicago
1986 Summer Taos Artists St. Johns College Charity Auction and Exhibit Santa Fe, NM

1987 Summer Hal Blagbrough’s Galleries St. Louis with a Oscar E. Berninghaus mural titled Commerce
1999 Summer City of Chicago “Capturing Sunlight, The Art of Tree Studios” Exhibit by Former Artist Residence
2012 – 2032 Council Bluffs Public Library (IOWA) “Hidden No More” exhibit. Annual Rotating Exhibit in artist’s hometown
October 30, 2012 to 2017 – Grant Wood & Grell two man show; Six paintings, two drawings & a mural on public exhibit inside main lobby, Pottawattamie County Government Building Council Bluffs, Iowa

2013 Discovering Louis Grell: American Muralist one man show, University of Nebraska Omaha January 17 – February 20, 2014.  Showcasing 60 works by Grell & Discovering Louis Grell – vision & versatile 26 minute documentary

2015 St. Louis Union Station Grand Hall exhibit and mural re-unveiling of Commerce on the Landing

Group Exhibitions New York, Philadelphia
Grell exhibited 25 times at the Art Institute of Chicago from 1917 through 1941 wining several top honors.
Grell also exhibited in Paris, Berlin, Munich, Hamburg, New York, Santa Fe and Philadelphia.

Known Commissions

  • Chicago Theater 14 Murals Total – And Large decorative painting of Apollo on the proscenium arch painted 1921 & 1933
  • City of Detroit, Water Board Building, Detriot, MI Louis Kamper Architect; opened October 1, 1928, large historical lobby mural, entire large Board Room ceiling decoration on 4th floor.
  • Bank of Detroit, mural paintings depicting History of Banking
  • Northwestern Military and Naval Academy, Lake Geneva, WI now St. Johns Northwestern Military Academy in Delafield, WI painted 2 Large Indian & Pioneer murals 6′ x 30′ in1939 & 1940
  • Union Station, St. Louis, MO Large Mural 8′ x 50′, Eades bridge, train, two steamboats, above Central Ticketing office, been moved to a new location in St. Louis
  • Mark Twain Hotel, St. Louis, MO Allegorical murals in Lobby painted in 1942
  • Roosevelt Hotel in Pittsburg, PA Mural
  • Manos Theater now Palace Theatre, Greensburg, PA 3 French Fairytale murals (two conserved, one being conserved) painted in 1926
  • Congress Hotel, Chicago, IL 13 Murals in Hotel lobby depicting History of Chicago, Illinois 1940 & again in 1952 and 3 allegorical Murals in Pompeian Room 1955
  • Mayflower Hotel, Washington DC 4 Lifesize Paintings of first four presidents of US
  • Citizens National Bank, Springville, New York. “Credit, Mans Confidence in Man” Depression era mural 10′ x 10′.
  • Bank of New York Large Murals
  • Paramount Theatres in Aurora, Ft. Wayne, New York, Toledo and Denver. Possibly Roman Gallery in Rialto Theatre-Joliet, IL. Grell was main muralist for Rapp & Rapp Architects.
  • Fountain Square Hotel, Cincinnati Murals
  • Sacred Heart Hospital, Chicago Wall Decorations
  • Vendome Hotel, Evansville, IN mural
  • Dino’s and Grynon’s(spelling) Murals noted restuarants in Chicago –
  • First Presbyterian Church, Bay City, MI “Follow Me” 11′ x 6′ wall mural, 2nd floor of Nave.
  • Hotel Jefferson, St. Louis, MO Large Murals Lobby, Julius Moessel did the forest ceiling mural
  • Bank of Gowanda, Persia, New York. “Integrity and Trust” Depression era Indian & Pioneer 6′ x 12′ mural
  • Netherland Plaza Hotel & Carew Tower Cincinnati, OH 18 French & Greek themed murals throughout
  • Manufacturers Bank & Trust now Lift for Life Academy, St. Louis, MO Depression era mural; 20′ x 45′ industrial mural, 20′ x 20′ steel workers mural
  • Assumption Catholic Church, Chicago 3 Large Ceiling Murals & Ceiling Lunetts of the 12 Apostles, decorated entire ceiling
  • Fort Hayes Hotel, Columbus, OH several murals
  • Rotary Club of Chicago Large Mural in board room painted in 1931 old Sherman House building at Randolph & Clark
  • Gateway Theatre, Chicago, IL lobby decorations on ceiling, mural
  • Heidelberg Hotel, Baton Rouge, LA Greek Farming Scene mural
  • Raleigh Hotel Waco, TX very long Sir Walter Raleigh and Queen Elizabeth Mural above hotel lobby
  • Hotel Oliver, Southbend, IN Six Large Allegorical paintings
  • Jefferson City, MO Large Civic Mural
  • St Johns Lutheran Church Council Bluffs Iowa Nativity, Resurrection and Pieta murals
  • Rand McNally Corporate Office Skokie, IL Mural
  • Notre Dame de Chicago Church 58 Over Lifesize figure murals
  • Peoples Church of Chicago Large Mural above altar in 1959, well covered in the Liberalist magazine, 40 lifesize people and Jesus
  • Assumption Greek Orthodox Church, Chicago 3 large murals in entry
  • St. Mary’s Academy, Chicago Mural wall decorations
  • Hotel LaFontaine, Huntington, IN Eight Panel Large Egyptian Themed wall murals 8 panels very large
  • Bank Building Equipment Corp. of America, Design INC, St. Louis, MO Mural
  • Hotel-Pick Ohio, Youngstown, OH Lobby, Lounge Large Murals & Purple Cow Restuarant mural now Youngstown Metropolitan Housing Authority and Amedia Plaza Senior Housing center
  • Hotel Miami, Dayton, OH Murals
  • Aragon Ballroom 1926, “The Wonder Ballroom” Spanish Ballroom mural in grand stairway.
  • Resurrection Church, Chicago, IL
  • St. Mark’s Episcopal Church, Geneva, IL