IDEC 2015 Kaufmann Presentation

7/23/2019 IDEC 2015 Kaufmann Presentation

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Writing Wright’s Legacy:Edgar Kaufmann jr. on Frank Lloyd W

IDEC Conference—March 2015

Elise L. King

Assistant Professor

Baylor University



Elise King

Background



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T.C. Boyle, Franklin Toker, Fallingwater Rising, 2007Nancy Horan, Loving Frank, 2007



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Who are the major authors of Wright’s cannon

How have these authors shaped the popular perc

and narratives of Wright and his work?


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17

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Grant Carpenter Manson

Bruno Zevi

Henry-Russell Hitchcock

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!"#$%& ()%*+,"-%#./ !"# %&'() *+,#Books and articles published between 1930 and 1990

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Most Prolific Authors



Overview



Frank Lloyd Wright (1926)Library of Congress: LC-USZ62-36384

Kaufmann Famwww.fallingwater.org

http://www.fallingwater.org/



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Research Question

and Methods



In what ways did Edgar Kaufmann jr. [sic.] shape thconversation about Frank Lloyd Wright’s work and influe



Elise King

Literature Review



Elise King

Kaufmann’s Publications on Wright1950:

“Frank Lloyd Wright at the Strozzi.” Magazine of Art 44 (May1951): 190-192.

“Three New Buildings on the Pacific Coast.” Architecture Yearbook 4 (1952): 55-63.

“The H.C. Price Tower.” Architectural Record 119 (February 1956): 153-160.

“One Hundred Years of Significant Building.” Architectural Record 120 (October 1956): 194.

“Frank Lloyd Wright: Three New Churches.” Art in America 45 (Fall 1957): 22-25.

“Constructive Vision.” Progressive Architecture 39 (March 1958): 246, 248.

“The Form of Space for Art—Wright’s Guggenheim Museum.” Art In America 46 (1958-1959): 74-77.

“Architectural Coxcombry or The Desire for Ornament.” Perspecta 5 (1959): 5-15.

1960:

“Centrality and Symmetry in Wright’s Architecture.” Architect’s Yearbook 9 (1960):120-131.

Kaufmann & Ben Raeburn eds. Frank Lloyd Wright: Writings & Buildings. Cleveland: Meridian Books, 1960.

“Nineteenth-Century Design.” Perspecta 6 (1960): 56-67.

“Frank Lloyd Wright and the Fine Arts.” Perspecta 8 (1963): 37-42.

“Memmo’s Lodoli.” The Art Bulletin 46, no 2 (June 1964): 159-175.

“Frank Lloyd Wright’s Years of Modernism, 1925-1935.” Journal of the Society of Architectural Historians 24, no 1 (March 1965): 31-33.

Kaufmann and Bruno Zevi eds. La Casa Sulla Cascata di F. Ll. Wright. Milan: Et AKompass, 1965.

“The Usonian Pope-Leighey House.” Historic Preservation 17 (May-June 1965): 96-97. 71.

“Crisis and Creativity: Frank Lloyd Wright, 1904-1914.” JSAH 25, no 4 (December 1966): 292-296.

“Design: Sans Peur et sans Resources.” The Architectural Forum 125, no 2 (September 1966): 68-70.

“Frank Lloyd Wright: The Eleventh Decade.” Architectural Forum 130, no 5 (June 1969): 38-41.

N u m b e r o f P u b l i c a t i o n s

0

2

4

6

8

10

12

1950 1960 1970 1980

1970:

“Environment Is an Art.” JSAH 28, no 8 (April 1970): 321-330.

“Viewpoints: A series of interviews with architects, i nterior designethe design scene.” Interior Design 43, no 9 (September 1972)

“The Arts and Crafts: Reactionary or Progressive?” Record of the A 2 (1975): 6-12.

“Frank Lloyd Wright: Plasticity, Continuity, and Ornament.” JSAH 3

1980:

“Precedent and Progress in the Work of Frank Lloyd Wright.” JSAH

“’Form Became Feeling,’ a New View of Froebel and Wright.” JSA

“Frank Lloyd Wright’s Mementos of Childhood.” JSAH 41, no 3 (

Frank Lloyd Wright at the Metropolitan Museum of Art. New York: T

Fallingwater: A Frank Lloyd Wright Country House. New York: Abb

“How Wright was Wright.” House and Garden 158, no 8 (August 1

9 Commentaries on Frank Lloyd Wright. Cambridge, Massachuset

Books



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W o r k s

0

30

60

90

120

Decades

1880 1890 1900 1910 1920 1930 1940 1950 1960 1970 1

Fallingwater(1936)

Wright Dies(1959)

Taliesin(1911)

Taliesin West(1937)

Oak ParkHome/Studio

(1889)

Robie House(1909)

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Kaufmann’s Writings:Major Themes/Concepts

• Contemporize Wright

• Translate Wright’s architecture and verbiage



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Contemporize

• Indeterminacy“Design sans peur et sans ressources”

“Frank Lloyd Wright: The Eleventh Decade” (1969)

• Systems“The Usonian Pope-Leighey House” (1965)

“Plasticity, Continuity, and Ornament” (1978)

Frank Lloyd Wright Country House (1968)



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-Kaufmann “Plasticity, Continuity, and Ornament”

“Wright’s statements have character and direction, but hobscured the underlying thought in turgid, inconsistent ph

“Translate”“Plasticity, Continuity, and Ornament” (1978)

9 Commentaries on Frank Lloyd Wright (1989)

The Non-Residential Architecture of Frank Lloyd Wright (1995)



Elise King

Fallingwater



Elise King

-Edgar Kaufmann jr.Entrusting Fallingwater to the Western Pennsylvania Conservancy

October 1963

“Conservation is not preservation: preservation is stoppingserve a future contingency; conservation is keeping life g



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• Only major Wright-designed house to open to the public wfurnishings, artwork, and setting intact

• More than 4.5 million visitors

• One of the most recognizable Wright works



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Elise King

Summary



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Conclusions



Elise King

• Bias towards the later portion of Wright’s career

• Responsible for defining and translating important Wrightiaconcepts

•

Carefully crafted the Fallingwater experience

IDEC 2015 Kaufmann Presentation

Documents

Transcript of IDEC 2015 Kaufmann Presentation