Frank Lloyd Wright: the Masterworks - Hardcover

Brooks Pfeiffer, Bruce; Larkin, David

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 0500236712 ISBN 13: 9780500236710

Publisher: Thames and Hudson Ltd, 1993

Synopsis

Frank Lloyd Wright was a towering international figure in architecture from 1890 to his death at the age of ninety in 1958. Because he was so prolific and his range so diverse and vast, scholars have rarely attempted more than limited surveys of his oeuvre. This is the first full-scale presentation of his masterworks - the zenith of his immense achievement. This book celebrates the entire breadth of his abilities - interior and landscape design, furniture and stained glass craftsmanship, as well as technical architectural virtuosity. Written and edited by Bruce Brooks Pfeiffer, a close associate of Wright and archivist of the Frank Lloyd Wright Foundation, this volume covers 39 of Wright's finest buildings, including the Martin house in Buffalo, the Robie house in Chicago, the Larkin Building, the Imperial Hotel, and Wright's own homes - Taliesin I and II in Spring Green, and Taliesin West. Each is represented in drawings and plans - many never previously reproduced - as well as historic plates and specially commissioned photographs. Bruce Brooks Pfeiffer is a member of the Taliesin Fellowship and for twenty years has been the archivist of the Frank Lloyd Wright Foundation. His other books include "Master Drawings from the Frank Lloyd Wright Archives" (1990), also published by Thames and Hudson. David Larkin is editor of the architectural review "Classic America".

About this title

About the Author

Bruce Brooks Pfeiffer was an apprentice to Frank Lloyd Wright and is currently a trustee and Director of the Archives for the Frank Lloyd Wright Foundation in Scottsdale, Arizona. He is the author of Frank Lloyd Wright Drawings and Treasures of Taliesin and editor of the highly praised series The Collected Writings of Frank Lloyd Wright.

David Larkin is the co-author and designer of such celebrated illustrated books as Classic America and Shaker and publisher of Barn and Wooden Ship.

Paul Rocheleau and Michael Freeman have contributed the new photography included in this book.

From Booklist

Wright has been the subject of numerous books, illustrative and historical, popular and scholarly, but Larkin and Pfeiffer have still succeeded in creating something fresh and exciting. This handsome volume presents brand-new photographs of and lucid critical commentary on 38 of Wright's most significant buildings, including such famous public structures as the Unity Temple (1905) in Oak Park, Illinois, and New York's Guggenheim Museum (1943-59), as well as lesser-known but stunning private homes. This selection embraces Wright's entire career, from the early prairie style to the adventurous creations of the 1940s and 1950s. The process of design for each masterwork is documented from Wright's earliest conceptual sketches to his polished drawings, which are works of art in their own right. Some black-and-white photographs of buildings under construction are provided, but the book's strongest visual components are the grand color photographs. The shots were composed to capture the unique aesthetic of each structure's exterior and interior, from its orientation to the land to its elegant decorative detail and dramatic use of natural light. A liberal sampling of excerpts from Wright's writings and correspondence adds to this volume's authority and value. Donna Seaman

About this edition

• Publisher: Thames and Hudson Ltd
• Publication date: 1993
• ISBN 10: 0500236712
• ISBN 13: 9780500236710
• Binding: Hardcover