“The North Halsted Street building where noted 20th century artist Roger Brown lived and worked during the early 1970s into the 1990s is being sold by the School of the Art Institute, which operated it as a home-and-studio museum until late last year.

“Brown was a painter ‘whose radiant, panoramic images were as passionately political as they were rigorously visual,’ noted a 1997 obituary in the New York Times, and ‘one of a number of artists whose interests and talents coalesced into one of the defining moments in postwar Chicago art,’ the Imagist school. His paintings are familiar now for their cartoonishly bold lines and colors, often depicting urban buildings or cloudscapes.

“His works are in the Art Institute of Chicago, the Smithsonian Institution and other museums, and Loop denizens know his mural of Daedalus and Icarus soaring over the sidewalk at 120 N. LaSalle St.

“Potential buyers, Crossan said, ‘may want to consider tearing it down’ and building a replacement. The building is not a city landmark, which could otherwise prohibit demolition, and does not appear to be red- or orange-rated in the city’s historic resources survey.

“Brown and his partner, architect George Veronda, bought the building in 1972 for a price that is hard to determine in public records. Veronda died in 1984, and in 1996 Brown donated the house and its contents, including art by him and others, to the Art Institute.

“On Halsted Street, the school operated the building as the Roger Brown Study Collection, where visitors could see where the artist worked on the ground floor, as well as his collections of other artists’ work, antique toys and other objects. Visitors could even view the toothbrushes and shaving cream that were left behind at the time of the donation.

“In December, the School of the Art Institute announced it was selling the contents of the house to the Kohler Foundation, which would house it in the Art Preserve of the John Michael Kohler Arts Center in Sheboygan, Wisc., 143 miles north.

“In a press release issued at the time, Martin Berger, school provost and senior vice president of academic affairs, said that after 30 years as ‘proud steward’ of the collection of more than 2,000 items, the school felt ‘moving the collection to the Art Preserve allows the works to be conserved for future generations, as well as studied and experienced by more people, deepening the world’s understanding of the creative approach of Brown and his contemporaries.'”(Rodkin, Crain’s Chicago Business, 9/12/25)

“1926 N. HALSTED is a rare opportunity to completely renovate or to demolish the existing structure to make the land vacant and ready for development (zoned RT-4; total building sq footage is 4585 which includes the lower level; lot size is 24.11 x 125). This property was the home and studio of American artist and painter Roger Brown often associated with the Chicago Imagist groups. This home is registered in the National Registry of Historic Places.” (Redfin Listing)

Read the full story at Crain’s Chicago Business

• Artist Roger Brown’s longtime home and studio for sale by School of the Art Institute, Dennis Rodkin, Crain’s Chicago Business, 9/12/25
• Landmark the Roger Brown Home and Studio — or lose it forever, Elizabeth Blasius and Susannah Ribstein Op-Ed, Chicago Tribune, 9/19/25
• The Future of Roger Brown’s Home & Studio, Rachel Freundt, Architecture and History of Chicagoland, 9/22/25
• Preservationists rush to head off potential demolition of Roger Brown home, Dennis Rodkin, Crain’s Chicago Business, 9/19/25
• Roger Brown Study Collection, Time Tells, Vince Michael Blog
• School of the Art Institute of Chicago to Sell its Roger Brown Study Collection to Kohler Foundation, School of the Art Institute
• Roger Brown House, 1926 N Halsted St, Chicago Listing