FRANK LLOYD WRIGHT BUILDING CONSERVANCY HELPS SECURE COLLECTION OF WRIGHT MATERIALS AT AUCTION
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Working in close cooperation, The Frank Lloyd Wright Building Conservancy and The Frank Lloyd Wright Foundation have ensured the purchase at auction of a major collection of photographs and drawings of Wright buildings, thereby preserving them as a collection and returning them to their rightful home in the Frank Lloyd Wright Archives at Taliesin West in Scottsdale, Arizona.
The Conservancy and the Foundation created a task force to raise adequate funds and to alert potentially interested parties of the organizations’ joint goal to purchase the collection for the Foundation’s Archives.
Now owned by the Foundation, the extensive body of materials, including approximately 600 original photographs of buildings, more than 10 original drawings, and approximately 300 photographs of drawings and plans, was provided by Wright to the architectural historian Henry Russell Hitchcock when Hitchcock was preparing the book In the Nature of Materials: the Buildings of Frank Lloyd Wright, 1898-1941. Published in 1942, this book was the first major study of the architect's work.
Conservancy Board member, Harvard Professor and Wright expert Neil Levine stated: “The drawings, either by Wright himself or his assistants, are of inestimable value to scholars and professionals in the field. In a number of cases, these are the only plans that have survived.”
The Conservancy’s advocacy team works closely with the archivists at Taliesin and frequently refers Wright homeowners and restoration architects to the Wright Archives for information vital to the appropriate maintenance and restoration of specific Wright houses or buildings — which leads ultimately to their long-term preservation.
Larry Woodin, vice president of the Conservancy, represented the Foundation as auction bidder. Other members of the Conservancy's team included Neil Levine, Susan Lockhart, John Thorpe, and Janet Halstead. Several others assisted the Conservancy in the project: Kathryn Smith, Nick Olsberg, Richard Cleary, Anthony Alofsin, Robert Leary and Tom Schmidt.
This example of effective collaboration on a specific shared objective may lead to other opportunities for the Conservancy and Foundation to work together on selected projects in the future. For the full press release click here. For additional information click here.
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Photo Courtesy Bonhams & Butterfields
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Photo Courtesy Bonhams & Butterfields
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Photo Courtesy Bonhams & Butterfields
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