Thursday, June 08, 2017

Frank Lloyd Wright at 150: Celebrating the Sesquicentennial of a Genius with a Few Photos I've Taken

The great American architect Frank Lloyd Wright was born on June 8, 1867--150 years ago today--in Richland Center, Wisconsin.

In 1887, Wright moved to Chicago and soon after became an apprentice to, and then collaborator with, the great Louis Sullivan.

Wright's moonlighting got him dismissed from Sullivan's firm, and he would go on to enjoy one of the most celebrated architectural careers ever. 

There are few artists in any idiom whose work I admire more than that of Frank Lloyd Wright. Over the years I've visited and photographed hundreds of houses and buildings he designed, touring the insides of at least a couple dozen, from Fallingwater to Unity Temple to the Guggenheim to Price Tower in Bartlesville, Oklahoma.

I've focused on Wright in several blog posts, so in addition to looking at the photos below, you may wish to search for "Frank Lloyd Wright" in the search box on the right toolbar. In this post from 2014, I included a list of publicly-accessible Wright Sites.

The gallery below was rather hastily compiled, primarily from digital photos taken over the past 10 years or so; hence some excellent pictures of great houses are left out (including Taliesin in Wisconsin, his Taliesin West compound near Phoenix and wonderful works in Los Angeles). There also is scant focus on his brilliant art glass windows and self-designed furniture.

But this should provide a sense of Wright's brilliant vision across a 7-decade career.
































All photos by Seth Arkin.

1 comment:

Ken said...

While I find Frank Lloyd Wright homes to be self evidently beautiful, what would you say are the top 3 signature characteristics of a Frank Lloyd Wright designed house?