Frank Lloyd Wright

In this refreshing new study, Wright scholar Kathryn Smith does just that, exploring the grace and beauty found in all facets of Frank Lloyd Wright’s work: from office desks and chairs to his first residential commissions, from magazine cover designs to major public buildings. The concise text and brilliant colour photographs chart Wright’s entire career, beginning with his apprenticeship to Adler and Sullivan before the turn of the century. Readers witness the Prairie period, Wright’s years in Japan and California, his major designs of the late 1920s and 1930s, his Usonian houses, and the monumental late works of his last decades. Smith shows examples of Wright’s drawings, furniture, and decorative arts, too, supplementing our understanding of Wright’s aesthetic. The book concludes with a glimpse at the architect’s seldom-seen collection of Asian art, which once comprised tens of thousands of pieces – a source of much inspiration and edification for the architect and his students, and a key to understanding Wright’s views on art and nature.

Here is a broad portrait of the master builder who sought the title “greatest architect of all time.” Although it may never be possible to fully assess Wright’s legacy, Kathryn Smith’s authoritative book is a fitting testament to his lasting genius.