Wright Studies PHOTOGRAPHIC CHRONOLOGY OF FRANK LLOYD WRIGHT PORTRAITS
Frank Lloyd Wright (June 8, 1867 - April 9, 1959) Catherine Tobin Wright (March 25, 1871 - March 24, 1959) Catherine Lee (Kitty) Clark Tobin was born on March 25, 1871 in Nebraska. She was the daughter of a wealthy businessman. On June 1, 1889, Catherine and Frank were married in Chicago, Illinois. She was 17 years old. They honeymooned in Wisconsin. Raising a family dominated most of her time. In 1909, after six children and twenty years of marriage, Frank left his wife and family and traveled to Europe with Mamah Borthwick Cheney settling in Italy for about a year. In 1922 she granted Wright a divorce. Catherine passed away on March 24, 1959, fifteen days before Frank Lloyd Wright. Mamah Borthwick Cheney (June 19, 1869 - August 15, 1914) Mamah Borthwick was born in Boone, Iowa. She received a BA at the University of Michigan, and later worked as a librarian in Port Huron, Michigan. In 1899, she married Edwin Cheney, an electrical engineer from Oak Park, Illinois, USA. They had two children: John (1902) and Martha (1905). Edwin commissioned Wright to design them a home in 1903. In 1909, Mamah and Frank left their respective spouses and traveled to Europe, settling in Italy for about a year. Upon their return, they settled at Taliesin in Spring Green, Wisconsin. On August 15, 1914, one of Wright's recently hired domestic workers murdered Mamah, both her children, three of Wright's associates, and a son of one of the associates. He set fire to one wing of Taliesin, and murdered the seven people with an ax as they tried to escape the fire. At the time, Wright was overseeing work on Midway Gardens in Chicago. Catherine Wright refused to give Wright a divorce until November 13, 1922. Miriam Noel Wright (May 9, 1869 - January 3, 1930) Immediately after the tragic death of Mamah Cheney on August 15, 1914, Miriam Noel sent condolences to Wright. Within weeks Wright became involved with Miriam and she moved into Taliesin. On November 7, 1915 she was quoted in the Chicago Daily Tribune "...Frank Wright and I care nothing for what the world may think. We are as capable of making laws for ourselves as were the dead men who made the laws by which they hoped to rule the generations after them." Although Wright had not yet received a divorce from Kitty, they live together and travel to Tokyo, Japan in 1916. In 1922, Wright's first wife, Kitty, granted him a divorce. He was required to wait one year and on November 19, 1923, Miriam and Frank were married in Spring Green, Wisconsin. Their relationship was quite tumultuous. Wright explains in his Autobiography that he married her to rescue their relationship. "Marriage resulted in ruin for both. Instead of improving with marriage, as I had hoped, our relationship became worse." (An Autobiography, p 260). They quarreled a great deal, she was addicted to morphine, and in less than a year they were separated. In 1924, after the separation, but while still married, Wright met Olgivanna at the Petrograd Ballet in Chicago. On November 27, 1925 Miriam filed for a divorce, alleging desertion and cruelty. After a three year legal battle, they were divorced on August 26, 1927. Olga and Frank were married on August 25, 1928 at midnight in Rancho Santa Fe near La Jolla. The ceremony was held one year to the day after Wright’s divorce from Miriam. Miriam Noel Wright passed away on January 3, 1930 at the age of 61. Olga (Olgivanna) Ivanovna Milanoff: Aka, Olga Lazovich Milanov (December 27, 1898 - March 1, 1985). Olga's first marriage was to a Russian architect, Vladimar Hinzenberg, in 1917. They divorced in 1925. Wright and Olga met at the Petrograd Ballet in Chicago in 1924 while she was separated from her husband. They were married on August 25, 1928 at midnight in Rancho Santa Fe near La Jolla. They honeymooned in Phoenix, Arizona at the Arizona Biltmore. (Note: She was 31 years younger.) Wedding announcement of Frank Lloyd Wright and Olgivanna Wright Catherine Tobin Wright Mamah Borthwick Cheney Miriam Noel Wright Mrs. John Lloyd Wright Anne Baxter
1885 1887 1889 1895 1900 1903 1905 1906 1920 1923 1924 1925 1926 1928 1930 1934 1935 1936 1937 1940 1945 1946 1947 1949 1950 1951 1952 1953 1954 1955 1956 1957 1958
1885 Wright at 18 (1885)
Wright at 18. Frank Lloyd Wright Portrait (circa 1885).
Photographer E.R. Curtiss, Wisconsin Historical Society.
High-res digital 4 x 5 image.
0001.01.0706
1887 Wright at 20 (1887)
Wright at 20. Portrait of Wright shortly after he arrived in Chicago.
Published in "An Autobiography, Frank Lloyd Wright", Wright, 1977, page 64f. Dated at age 20; "Frank Lloyd Wright A Biography", Secrest, 1992, page 80. Dated at age 20.
4.25 x 6 Print, High res digital image.
0004.01.0509
1889 Wright at 22 (1889) Wright at 22. Frank Lloyd Wright Portrait (circa 1889).
International Newsreel Photo - Received 9/20/29. Typed caption on back: "Friends incorporate F.L. Wright, Architect. Chicago Ill... Frank Lloyd Wright, internationally famous architect who is now an institution under the charter of Frank Lloyd Wright, Inc., following the establishment of the corporation by his friends. Wright may now give his talent free play unhampered by domestic or financial matters. He is said to have invented a method that will revolutionize skyscrapers." Time line: Wright arrived in Chicago in 1887. Set up his own practice in 1893.
Original silver gelatin photo. 6 x 8.
0009.01.0401
1895 Wright at 28 (1) (1895)
Wright at 28. Portrait of Wright in 1895.
Frank Lloyd Wright: Wright was about 28 at the time this picture was taken, circa 1895. Just two years earlier he had left the employment of Louis Sullivan and begun his independent practice of architecture. Courtesy National Library of Australia.
Published in "Frank Lloyd Wright, His Life and His Architecture", Twombly, 1979, page 23 but dated 1889.
3.25 x 5.6 Print, High res digital image.
0018.01.0509
Wright at 28 (1b) (1895) Wright at 28 (Circa 1895) (Published by the Frank Lloyd Wright Home & Studio Foundation. #3268)
“Frank Lloyd Wright: Wright was about 28 at the time this picture was taken, circa 1895. Just two years earlier he had left the employment of Louis Sullivan and begun his independent practice of architecture. Photo a gift of David and Gladys Wright.”
4.25 x 6 Postcard.
1993.48.0706
Wright at 28 (2) (1895)
Wright at 28. 1895. "A self-photograph. No ‘picture-taker’ could satisfy him. So he rigged up his camera with a long rubber tube, and at the right moment, squeezed the bulb! It was the year 1895." John Lloyd Wright, published in "My Father Who is on Earth", 1946, page 18.
4.75 x 5.8 Print, High res digital image.
0018.02.0609
1900 Wright at 33 (Circa 1900)
Wright at 33. Circa 1900. Wright wearing a hat, looking to the left.
5 x 6.2 Print, High res digital image.
0041.01.0609
1903 Wright at 36 (Circa 1903)
Wright at 36. Circa 1903. Portrait of Wright slightly facing to the right, resting his head on his hand. May have been photographed at the same one dated 1905 (Wright at 38), but his hair does not have the touch of gray.
Published in "Frank Lloyd Wright" Thomas, 1997, page 6 and dated 1903.
4 x 5 Print, High res digital image.
0054.02.0609
1905 Wright at 38 (Circa 1905)
Wright at 38. Circa 1905. Wright slightly facing to the right. This portrait has been dated circa 1926, which would place Wright at 59. A more accurate date would be circa 1905.
A very similar portrait is published in "Frank Lloyd Wright Collected Writings", Volume 1, Pfeiffer, page 2.
5 x 7 Print, High res digital image.
0058.03.0609
1906 Wright at 39 (Circa 1906)
Wright at 39. Circa 1906. Portrait of Wright slightly facing to the right. Hair has just a touch of gray. May have been photographed at the same one dated 1905 (Wright at 38).
Published in "Frank Lloyd Wright Collected Writings" Volume 1, Pfeiffer, page 2; “Many Masks” Gill, 1987, page 180. Courtesy of the Frank Lloyd Wright Home and Studio Foundation.
7 x 8.2 Print, High res digital image.
0064.02.0609
1920 Wright at 53 (1920)
Wright at 53. Portrait of Wright in 1920. Courtesy of the State Historical Society of Wisconsin, William J Meuer Photoart House.
Published in "Truth Against The World", Meehan, 1987, page 48. Dated circa 1920-1930.
4.75 x 6 Print, High res digital image.
0142.06.0509
1923 Wright at 56 (1) (1923)
Wright at 56. Frank Lloyd Wright Portrait. November 27, 1923.
Photographed by Arnold Genthe, AMICO Public Collection, Washington DC.
High-res 3 x 4 digital image.
0156.02.0706
Wright at 56 (1) (1923) Wright at 56 (November 1923) Portrait of Wright, looking at the camera, but turned to the right. Published in "The Life Work of the American Architect:, Frank Lloyd Wright". The "Foto" (German) is dated November 1923. Also published in "An Autobiography, Frank Lloyd Wright" 1977, and indicates that this photograph was taken about the time he met Olgivanna (page 192e). (Note: Wright and Olgivanna met at the Petrograd Ballet in Chicago in 1924 while she was separated from her husband. So this would have been taken before they met.)
6.5 x 9.25 print, High res digital image.
0156.04.0609
1924 Wright at 57. Circa 1924. Set of six images (found to date), photographed at the same time at Taliesin. Outfit is the same in each of these six photographs. Some publications indicate that these are possible self-portraits. The Library of Congress notes that one of the images was a photograph by Rudd.
Wright at 57 (1) (1924)
Wright at 57. Circa 1924. Wright in his living room at Taliesin. Drafting pencil in his right hand. Part of a set of seven images to date photographed at the same time. Possibly a self-portrait, photographed at the same time as 157.03. Courtesy of the Wisconsin Historical Society. Dated circa 1924.
Published in "Frank Lloyd Wright A Biography" Secrest, 1992, page 261; "Frank Lloyd Wright, An Interpretive Biography", Twombly, 1973, page 149; "Truth Against The World", Meehan, 1987, page 2.
6 x 5.25 print, High res digital image.
0157.02.0509
Wright at 57 (2) (1924) Wright at 57. Circa 1924. Wright in his living room at Taliesin. Seated at a table, a floral Japanese screen in the background. Pencil in his right hand, possibly a cigarette in his left. Part of a set of seven images to date photographed at the same time.
4 x 4.6 print, High res digital image.
0157.08.0509
Wright at 57 (2) (1924) Wright at 57. Circa 1924. Portrait of Wright working at his drafting table at Taliesin. Part of a set of seven images to date photographed at the same time.
5 x 4.9 Print, High res digital image.
0157.04.0609
Wright at 57 (3) (1924) Wright at 57. Circa 1924. Close-up portrait of Wright working at his drafting table at Taliesin. Part of a set of seven images to date photographed at the same time.
3.5 x 4.1 Print, High res digital image.
0157.05.0609
Wright at 57 (4) (1924) Wright at 57. Circa 1924. Portrait of Wright facing slightly to the right, photographed at Taliesin. Part of a set of seven images to date photographed at the same time.
Courtesy Library of Congress. Library of Congress notes that photograph by Rudd.
4 x 5.5 Print, High res digital image.
0157.06.0609
Wright at 57 (5) (1924)
Wright at 57. Circa 1924. Portrait of Wright seated on a drafting table, holding a cane at Taliesin in front of a model of the Press Building Project (1912, San Francisco). Part of a set of seven images to date photographed at the same time. Possibly a self-portrait, photographed at the same time as 157.02. Wright is holding the same cane as in 171.02. Courtesy of the Wisconsin Historical Society. Dated 1924.
Published in "Truth Against The World", Meehan, 1987, page 86.
4.2 x 6 print, High res digital image.
0157.03.0509
Wright at 57 (6) (1924) Wright at 57. Circa 1924. Portrait of Wright seated next to a drafting table, holding a cane at Taliesin in front of a model of the Press Building Project (1912, San Francisco). Part of a set of seven images to date photographed at the same time.
4 x 3 print, High res digital image.
0157.07.0509
1925 Wright at 58 (1925) Wright at 58 (Verso)
Wright at 58. Portrait of Wright holding his baby daughter Iovanna at Taliesin. No other copy of this print is known to exist. This photograph was loaned to Ken Burns for his 2004 Wright documentary. Inscribed on verso: "Frank Lloyd Wright and baby daughter Iovanna at Taliesin". Kelmscott Gallery, Chicago, acquired this photograph from Wright's granddaughter Nora Natof in 1980.
Original vintage 2.5 x 4.25 silver gelatin photograph.
Similar image published in "Frank Lloyd Wright, His Life and His Architecture", Twombly, 1979, page 184 but dated early 1924.
0171.02.1206
1926 Wright at 59 (1) (1926)
Wright at 59. Frank Lloyd Wright Portrait March 1, 1926.
Photographed by DeLonge Studio, Courtesy of the Wisconsin Historical Society.
Published in "Frank Lloyd Wright A Biography", Secrest, 1992, page 157, but dated 1905.
5 x 6 Print. High-res digital image.
0249.09.0706
Wright at 59 (2) (1926)
Wright at 59. Portrait of Wright by DeLonge Studio, March 1, 1926.
Photographed at the same time as 249.09. He is wearing a long black coat, with a second draped over his left arm which is holding a hat. A pair of glassed are in his right hand.
Published in "Truth Against The World", Meehan, 1987, page 32 dated circa 1910-1920. Courtesy of the Wisconsin Historical Society.
4.75 x 6 Print. High res digital image.
0249.17.0509
1928 Wedding announcement Wedding announcement of Frank Lloyd Wright and Olgivanna Wright, at Rancho Santa Fe, California, 25 August 1928. “Iovanna. Married, August 25, Rancho Santa Fe, California. Olga Ivanovna, Daughter of Ivan Lazovich and Militza Milan of Gettinje Montenegro, To Frank Lloyd Wright, Son of Anna Lloyd-Jones and William Cary Wright, Taliesin, Wisconsin, 1928.”
Designed and calligraphed by Wright, then photographically printed on vellum or rice paper and laminated to buff-colored card stock. A portrait of their daughter Iovanna Wright at upper left; one portion hand-colored in red (4.5 x 5.5"). Olga and Frank were married on August 25, 1928 at midnight in Rancho Santa Fe near La Jolla. The ceremony was held one year to the day after Wright’s divorce from Miriam Noel Wright, and almost three years after his and Olgivanna’s daughter (shown in the hexagonal portrait) was born out of wedlock. They honeymooned in Phoenix, Arizona at the Arizona Biltmore Hotel.
A book was purchased from the daughter of the Melvyn Maxwell Smith Residence (S.287 1946) designed by Wright in Bloomfield Hills, Michigan. The invitation was in the book.
Published in “Many Masks” Gill, 1987, page 301; “Frank Lloyd Wright A Biography” Secrest 1992, page 321; “Frank Lloyd Wright, The Interactive Portfolio” Stipe 2004, page 49 (Facsimile in sleeve).0215.01.1106
1930 Wright at 63 (1930)
Wright at 63. Portrait of Wright in 1930. Courtesy Library of Congress.
Published in "Truth Against The World", Meehan, 1987, page 122; "My Father Who is on Earth", Wright, John Lloyd, 1946, page 195.
Image used in 1932 Poster.
8 x 10 Print, High res digital image.
0249.16.0509
1934 Wright at 67 (1934)
Wright at 67. Frank Lloyd Wright Portrait.
This print was given to Lucian Schlingen Sr. by Frank Lloyd Wright in 1934-35. This print was purchased from his son. (Note on back: Return to Taliesin, Spring Green, Wisconsin)
Original 5 x 7 Sepia tone.
0397.02.0606
1935 Wright at 68 (1935) Wright at 68. Portrait of Wright in 1935 by Don Keller, Phoenix Ariz, 4-5-35.
Courtesy Library of Congress.
8 x 10 print. High res digital image.
0397.06.0509
1936 Wright at 69 (1)(1936)
Wright at 69. Portrait of Wright seated. His cane is hooked on his left arm, he is holding his hat on his lap.
High res digital 4x5 digital image, 1936.
0404.10.0307
Wright at 69 (2) (1936)
Wright at 69, Olgivanna at 38 (1936) Mr. and Mrs. Frank Lloyd Wright. Frank Lloyd Wright and his wife Olgivanna, seated together reading in the living room at Taliesin. Photographed by Melvin E. Diemer.
Published in "Frank Lloyd Wright Collected Writings", Volume 4, Pfeiffer, 1994, page 121; "Frank Lloyd Wright, His Life and His Architecture", Twombly, 1979, page 289 but dated early 1940s.
4.4 x 6 print. High res digital image.
0404.20.0509
1937 Wright at 70 (1) (1937) Wright at 70 (1937) Wright with group of apprentices at Taliesin. Front row left to right: Benjamin Dombar, Kevin Lynch, Frank Lloyd Wright, James Thomson, Wesley Peters and Robert Mosher. Back row, left to right: Carey Carraway, Jahn Lautner, John Howe, Eugene Masselink, Blaine Drake, Ellis Jacobs, E. Brookins, Herbert Fritz, Burton Goodrich and Edgar Tafel. According to Tafel, it was photographed by Kenn Hendrich, Hendrich-Blessing, taken during the preparation for the January 1938 issue of Architectural Forum.
Published in "Letters to Apprentices", Wright, 1982, page 32; "Architectural Forum", January 1938, page 3.
5 x 3.4 print. High res digital image.
0429.07.0609
Wright at 70 (2) (1937)
Wright at 70 (2) Detail (1937)
Wright at 70 (1937) Wright with apprentices at Taliesin. Behind Wright on the left is John Lautner. To his right is Robert Mosher, Edgar Tafel and Wesley Peters. According to Tafel, it was photographed by Kenn Hendrich, Hendrich-Blessing, taken during the preparation for the January 1938 issue of Architectural Forum.
Similar photograph published in "Years With Frank Lloyd Wright, Apprentice to Genius", Tafel, 1979, on the cover of the soft cover version and page 162-163.
7x 5 print. High res digital image.
0429.08.0609
1940 Wright at 73 (1) (1940)
Wright at 73. 1940. Portrait by Yousuf Karsh in New York. His left hand is holding a cigarette, his right is in his pocket. "Although seventy-three years of age, he literally breezed into my hotel suite, radiating vitality and charm, and dressed like a fashion plate."
Published in "Faces of Destiny, Portraits by Karsh", Karsh, 1946, pages 158-159.
5.5 x 6.5 print. High res digital image.
0531.22.0509
Wright at 73 (2) (1940)
Wright in his 70s. Olgivanna in her 40s. Circa 1940s (1935-1945). Frank Lloyd Wright and his wife Olgivanna seated together at Taliesin, she is looking up at him.
5 x 6.25 print. High res digital image.
0531.23.0509
Wright at 73 (3) (1940) Wright at 73 (1940) Wright in his 70s (4) (Early 1940s) Wright in his 70s (Early 1940s) “Frank Lloyd Wright, Taliesin, Spring Green, Wisconsin. 11195-F"
Early 1940s at Taliesin. Back: All rights reserved - The L. L. Cook Co., Milwaukee.
Real Photo Postcard. 3.4 x 5.4.
0531.21.1007
1945 Wright at 78 (1945)
Wright at 78. Portrait of Wright in 1945, crossing his arms. Photographed by Blackstone Studios at Taliesin on July 20, 1945. Courtesy Blackstone Studios,
4.5 x 5.75 print. High res digital image.
0647.12.0509
1946 Wright at 79 (1946) Wright at 79. 1946. Portrait of Wright glancing to the left, wearing a three-piece suit. His left hand is under his chin. We have seen a copy of this print inscribed "Taliesin, August 18, 1946.
4.75 x 6. High Res digital image.
0685.06.0609
1947 Wright at 80 (1947)
Wright at 80. 1947. Portrait of Wright by Arnold Newman. Wright is seated at a table with architectural plans, drawing pencil and glasses in his right hand. A drawing of the Huntington Hartford Sports Club Project, Hollywood, CA (1947) is on the wall behind him.
7.5 x 6 print. High res digital image.
0720.07.0509
1949 Wright at 82 (1949) Frank Lloyd Wright at 82. Photographed in New York City, Nov. 2, 1949. Stamp on back also indicated that this photo was published Jun 3, 1951 and Dec 6, 1953.
Published in "Frank Lloyd Wright - A Visual Encyclopedia" 1999 Thomson, page 10 and 341.
Original 5 x 7 silver gelatin photo.
0760.01.0706
Olgivanna at 51 (1949) Mrs. Frank Lloyd Wright (at 51). Helen Morrison Photographer. Hedrich-Blessing owned the rights to the negative, but were not the photographers. Verso: “Reprinted by Hedrich-Blessing. (Not a Hedrich-Blessing Photograph). Negative Number 44206".
Published in “About Wright” Tafel 1993, page 297; "An Autobiography" Wright 1977, page 320 (see page 619, Photographers' Credits).
Original 8 x 10 silver gelatin photo.
0798.06.0906
Wright in the late 1940s
Frank Lloyd Wright in a White Suit, photographed in the late 40s. Silver gelatin publicity photograph made for an exhibition at the Kelmscott Gallery, Chicago, held in early 1980s.
This is from an original, silver gelatin photograph, circa 1940s with Wright's signature on the image lower left hand corner of the print. Photographer unknown.
8 x 10 Print
0798.07.1206
1950 Wright at 83 (1950) Wright at 83. Circa1950. (Brandoch approximate age 8). Wright and grandson, Brandoch Peters. His parents were architect William Wesley Peters and Svetlana Hinzenburg, Wright’s adopted daughter from Olgivanna’s previous marriage. In 1946 when Brandoch was four years old, his mother Svetlana and brother Daniel, were killed in an automobile accident at Taliesin in 1946. The Wrights helped raise Brandoch and raised him as their own. He grew up at Taliesin at his grandfather's side. The verso is stamped "Edgar L. Obma, A.P.S.A. Master of Photography. Dodgeville, Wisconsin." (Note: Obma Studio opened in Dodgeville on March 1, 1941 after Edgar and his wife Elizabeth purchased the former Letcher Studio. They were married for 38 years. He passed away on January 31, 1976, she on October 5, 2002.)
Courtesy of Randolph C. Henning. 8 x 10 print, High res digital image.
0831.18.0709
1951 Wright at 84 (1) (1951)
Wright at 84 (1) (1951) Publicity photograph. Verso: Stamped May 7, 1951. Will speak in Detroit 8 p.m. May 14th.
8 x 10 Print, High res digital image.
Wright at 84 (2) (1951)
Wright at 84 (1951) 1952 Wright at 85 (1) (1952)
Wright at 85 (1952) Wright seated outside, in a chair, a cane propped against his leg, gesturing with his hand. World Wide Photo.
Courtesy the Library of Congress.
4.5 x 7 print. High res digital image.
0910.19.0509
Wright at 85 (2) (1952)
Wright at 85 (2) Detail (1952)
Wright at 85 (1952) 1953 Wright at 86 (1) (1953)
Wright at 86 (2) Detail (1953)
Wright at 86 (1953) Wright at 86 (2) (1953)
Wright at 86. 1953. Portrait of Wright seated behind his drafting table at Taliesin. Photographed on June 8, 1953 by James Roy Miller shortly before his birthday party.
Published in "Truth Against The World", Meehan, 1987, page 230. Courtesy of the Ryerson & Burnham Archives, The Art Institute of Chicago.
8 x 6.75 Print. High res digital image.
0987.30.0509
1954 Wright at 87 (1) (1954) Frank Lloyd Wright at 87. 11/11/54 Associated Press. Caption on back: "Feuding with Wisconsin. Architect Frank Lloyd Wright, shown in a New York Hotel, Nov 11, said he is leaving his native Wisconsin because state authorities place "Money before merit". Wright cited a state supreme court ruling that his studio home architectural school, Taliesin, is not an educational institution in the meaning of Wisconsin state law and so is subject to taxation."
Original 8 x 10 silver gelatin photo.
1954.00.1202
Wright at 87 (2) (1954)
Frank Lloyd Wright at 87. Head and shoulders portrait, facing left. Photographed in 1954 by Al Ravenna photographer. Courtesy of the Library of Congress.
4.5 x 6 Print. High-res digital image.
0998.02.0706
Wright at 87 (3) (1954)
Wright at 87 (1954) Wright at 87 (4) (1954) Wright at 87 (1954) “Frank Lloyd Wright, 1954." Photograph by Yousuf Karsh.
(Published by Fotofolio, New York, F124)
Postcard 6 x 4.25.
1990.50.0806
Wright at 87 (5) (1954)
Wright at 87. Portrait of Wright in 1954, leaning against a doorway, holding hat, other hand in pocket.
Photographed by Berenice Abbott, 50 Commerce Street, New York 14, N.Y. Stamped July 13, 1954 on verso.
4.5 x 5.75 Print. High res digital image.
1045.10.0509
1955 Wright at 88 (1) (February 11, 1955)
Wright at 88 (February 11, 1955)
Wright at 88 (2) (1955)
Wright at 88 (1955) Wright at 88 (3) (1955)
Wright at 88 (1955) Wright at 88 (4) (1955) Wright at 88. Wright visits the Capital Building in 1955.
Limited edition 8.5 x 11 print from digital negatives on satin semi gloss Semisatinado paper.
4/100. 2007.
8.5 x 11.
1092.13.0307
1956 Wright at 89 (1) (July 1956)
Wright at 89. Portrait of Wright in 1956. Passport photograph of Wright seated, cane hooked on his arm. Photographed by Reierson Studio on July 10, 1956.
Courtesy of the Wisconsin Historical Society.
4 x 6 Print, High res digital image.
1147.13.0509
Wright at 89 (2) (July 1956)
Wright at 89. Portrait of Wright in 1956. Passport photograph of Wright, light background. Photographed by Reierson Studio on July 10, 1956.
Courtesy of the Wisconsin Historical Society.
4.25 x 6 Print, High res digital image.
1147.14.0509
Wright at 89 (3) (July 1956)
Wright at 89 Portrait of Wright in 1956. Passport photograph of Wright seated, holding a cane in his right hand, a hat in his left. Photographed by Reierson Studio on July 10, 1956.
Courtesy of the Wisconsin Historical Society.
Wright at 89 (4), Olgivanna at 59 (July 1956)
Wright at 89, Olgivanna at 59 Portrait of Mr. and Mrs. Wright in 1956. Passport photograph, light background. Photographed by Reierson Studio on July 10, 1956.
Courtesy of the Wisconsin Historical Society.
Wright at 89 (5) (July 1956)
Wright at 89 (July 1956) Wright at 89 (6) (1956)
Wright at 89 (1956) Wright at 89. (1956) Photographed at Taliesin possibly in May. Alfred Eisenstaedt writes in Time Magazine (June 11, 1956, page 17) and Modern Photography that "I shall always remember my assignment to photograph Frank Lloyd Wright. It was done under such rushed, almost impossible conditions." He had just photographed Dr. J. Robert Oppenheimer and Dr. Jacques Maritain in Princeton, N.J. early in the day. He rushed back to his office. Caught a plane to Madison arriving a midnight. Had a few hours of sleep, and rushed to Taliesin to photograph Wright the next day. He was only at Taliesin for two hours. All were shot within 45 minutes and with three rolls of film. This is just one of the many images photographed that day. An in depth article describing his photo shoot at Taliesin is published in Modern Photography, September 1957, pages 52-57, 110-112.
Wright at 89 (7a) (1956) Wright at 89 (1956) Wright is looking directly into the camera. His right hand is holding his cane, his left hand is resting on top. Photographed at Taliesin possibly in May. Alfred Eisenstaedt writes in Time Magazine (June 11, 1956, page 17) and Modern Photography that "I shall always remember my assignment to photograph Frank Lloyd Wright. It was done under such rushed, almost impossible conditions." He had just photographed Dr. J. Robert Oppenheimer and Dr. Jacques Maritain in Princeton, N.J. early in the day. He rushed back to his office. Caught a plane to Madison arriving a midnight. Had a few hours of sleep, and rushed to Taliesin to photograph Wright the next day. He was only at Taliesin for two hours. All were shot within 45 minutes and with three rolls of film. This is just one of the many images photographed that day. An in depth article describing his photo shoot at Taliesin is published in Modern Photography, September 1957, pages 52-57, 110-112.
Photographed by Alfred Eisenstaedt. Courtesy Time/Life Magazines.
7.5 x 10 print. High res digital image.
1147.16.0609
Wright at 89 (7b) (1956) Wright at 89 (1956) Wright is looking directly into the camera, a pleasant smile on his face. His left hand is resting on top of his cane. Photographed at Taliesin possibly in May. Alfred Eisenstaedt writes in Time Magazine (June 11, 1956, page 17) and Modern Photography that "I shall always remember my assignment to photograph Frank Lloyd Wright. It was done under such rushed, almost impossible conditions." He had just photographed Dr. J. Robert Oppenheimer and Dr. Jacques Maritain in Princeton, N.J. early in the day. He rushed back to his office. Caught a plane to Madison arriving a midnight. Had a few hours of sleep, and rushed to Taliesin to photograph Wright the next day. He was only at Taliesin for two hours. All were shot within 45 minutes and with three rolls of film. This is just one of the many images photographed that day. An in depth article describing his photo shoot at Taliesin is published in Modern Photography, September 1957, pages 52-57, 110-112.
Photographed by Alfred Eisenstaedt. Courtesy Time/Life Magazines.
8 x 10 print. High res digital image.
1147.17.0609
Wright at 89 (7c) (1956) Wright at 89 (1956) Wright is leaning against a doorway. He is wearing a hat, looking off to the left, holding his cane in his left hand. Alfred had suggested he pick his favorite cane. Photographed at Taliesin possibly in May. Alfred Eisenstaedt writes in Time Magazine (June 11, 1956, page 17) and Modern Photography that "I shall always remember my assignment to photograph Frank Lloyd Wright. It was done under such rushed, almost impossible conditions." He had just photographed Dr. J. Robert Oppenheimer and Dr. Jacques Maritain in Princeton, N.J. early in the day. He rushed back to his office. Caught a plane to Madison arriving a midnight. Had a few hours of sleep, and rushed to Taliesin to photograph Wright the next day. He was only at Taliesin for two hours. All were shot within 45 minutes and with three rolls of film. This is just one of the many images photographed that day. An in depth article describing his photo shoot at Taliesin is published in Modern Photography, September 1957, pages 52-57, 110-112.
Photographed by Alfred Eisenstaedt. Published in Modern Photography, September 1957, pages 54. Courtesy Time/Life Magazines.
7.75 x 10 print. High res digital image.
1147.18.0609
Wright at 89 (7d) (1956) Wright at 89 (1956) At Eisenstaedt’s suggestion, Wright sits down at his desk to read his mail. "As he reads his mail, Wright loosed consciousness of the camera". Photographed at Taliesin possibly in May. Alfred Eisenstaedt writes in Time Magazine (June 11, 1956, page 17) and Modern Photography that "I shall always remember my assignment to photograph Frank Lloyd Wright. It was done under such rushed, almost impossible conditions." He had just photographed Dr. J. Robert Oppenheimer and Dr. Jacques Maritain in Princeton, N.J. early in the day. He rushed back to his office. Caught a plane to Madison arriving a midnight. Had a few hours of sleep, and rushed to Taliesin to photograph Wright the next day. He was only at Taliesin for two hours. All were shot within 45 minutes and with three rolls of film. This is just one of the many images photographed that day. An in depth article describing his photo shoot at Taliesin is published in Modern Photography, September 1957, pages 52-57, 110-112.
Photographed by Alfred Eisenstaedt. Published in Modern Photography, September 1957, pages 54. Courtesy Time/Life Magazines.
7.75 x 10 print. High res digital image.
1147.19.0609
Wright at 89 (7e) (1956) Wright at 89 (1956) Wright is seated at his desk. He is reading a copy of "Florida Southern College, Lakeland. The Frank Lloyd Wright Campus." Photographed at Taliesin possibly in May. Alfred Eisenstaedt writes in Time Magazine (June 11, 1956, page 17) and Modern Photography that "I shall always remember my assignment to photograph Frank Lloyd Wright. It was done under such rushed, almost impossible conditions." He had just photographed Dr. J. Robert Oppenheimer and Dr. Jacques Maritain in Princeton, N.J. early in the day. He rushed back to his office. Caught a plane to Madison arriving a midnight. Had a few hours of sleep, and rushed to Taliesin to photograph Wright the next day. He was only at Taliesin for two hours. All were shot within 45 minutes and with three rolls of film. This is just one of the many images photographed that day. An in depth article describing his photo shoot at Taliesin is published in Modern Photography, September 1957, pages 52-57, 110-112.
Photographed by Alfred Eisenstaedt. Published in Modern Photography, September 1957, pages 54. Courtesy Time/Life Magazines.
7.6 x 10 print. High res digital image.
1147.20.0609
Wright at 89 (7f) (1956) Wright at 89 (1956) (Published by Time Inc., Fotofolio, New York, P41) Time Inc.
“Frank Lloyd Wright, 1956." Life Photograph by Alfred Eisenstaedt.
Alfred Eisenstaedt writes in Time Magazine (June 11, 1956, page 17) and Modern Photography that "I shall always remember my assignment to photograph Frank Lloyd Wright. It was done under such rushed, almost impossible conditions." He had just photographed Dr. J. Robert Oppenheimer and Dr. Jacques Maritain in Princeton, N.J. early in the day. He rushed back to his office. Caught a plane to Madison arriving a midnight. Had a few hours of sleep, and rushed to Taliesin to photograph Wright the next day. He was only at Taliesin for two hours. All were shot within 45 minutes and with three rolls of film. This is just one of the many images photographed that day. An in depth article describing his photo shoot at Taliesin is published in Modern Photography, September 1957, pages 52-57, 110-112.
4.25 x 6 Postcard.
1990.49.0706
Wright at 89 (7g) (1956) Wright at 89 (1956) Wright is looking directly at the camera. His head is turned slightly to the left. Photographed at Taliesin possibly in May. Alfred Eisenstaedt writes in Time Magazine (June 11, 1956, page 17) and Modern Photography that "I shall always remember my assignment to photograph Frank Lloyd Wright. It was done under such rushed, almost impossible conditions." He had just photographed Dr. J. Robert Oppenheimer and Dr. Jacques Maritain in Princeton, N.J. early in the day. He rushed back to his office. Caught a plane to Madison arriving a midnight. Had a few hours of sleep, and rushed to Taliesin to photograph Wright the next day. He was only at Taliesin for two hours. All were shot within 45 minutes and with three rolls of film. This is just one of the many images photographed that day. An in depth article describing his photo shoot at Taliesin is published in Modern Photography, September 1957, pages 52-57, 110-112.
Photographed by Alfred Eisenstaedt. Published in Time Magazine, June 11, 1956, page 61; Modern Photography, September 1957, pages 53 and 55. Courtesy Time/Life Magazines.
7 x 10 print. High res digital image.
1147.21.0609
Wright at 89 (7h) (1956) Wright at 89 (1956) Wright is seated at a drawing table, framed by the gabled beams. Wright is engrossed in his work. Photographed at Taliesin possibly in May. Alfred Eisenstaedt writes in Time Magazine (June 11, 1956, page 17) and Modern Photography that "I shall always remember my assignment to photograph Frank Lloyd Wright. It was done under such rushed, almost impossible conditions." He had just photographed Dr. J. Robert Oppenheimer and Dr. Jacques Maritain in Princeton, N.J. early in the day. He rushed back to his office. Caught a plane to Madison arriving a midnight. Had a few hours of sleep, and rushed to Taliesin to photograph Wright the next day. He was only at Taliesin for two hours. All were shot within 45 minutes and with three rolls of film. This is just one of the many images photographed that day. An in depth article describing his photo shoot at Taliesin is published in Modern Photography, September 1957, pages 52-57, 110-112.
Photographed by Alfred Eisenstaedt. Published in Modern Photography, September 1957, pages 56. Courtesy Time/Life Magazines.
7.5 x 10 print. High res digital image.
1147.22.0609
Wright at 89 (7i) (1956) Wright at 89 (1956) Wright is seated at a drawing table, engrossed in his work. He is wearing a pair of glassed. A pencil is in his right hand. The fireplace is in the background to the far right. Photographed at Taliesin possibly in May. Alfred Eisenstaedt writes in Time Magazine (June 11, 1956, page 17) and Modern Photography that "I shall always remember my assignment to photograph Frank Lloyd Wright. It was done under such rushed, almost impossible conditions." He had just photographed Dr. J. Robert Oppenheimer and Dr. Jacques Maritain in Princeton, N.J. early in the day. He rushed back to his office. Caught a plane to Madison arriving a midnight. Had a few hours of sleep, and rushed to Taliesin to photograph Wright the next day. He was only at Taliesin for two hours. All were shot within 45 minutes and with three rolls of film. This is just one of the many images photographed that day. An in depth article describing his photo shoot at Taliesin is published in Modern Photography, September 1957, pages 52-57, 110-112.
Photographed by Alfred Eisenstaedt. A similar pose is published in Modern Photography, September 1957, pages 56-57. Courtesy Time/Life Magazines.
7.6 x 10 print. High res digital image.
1147.23.0609
Wright at 89 (7j) (1956) Wright at 89 (1956) Wright is seated behind a drawing table, looking directly at the camera with a slight smile on his face. His arms are crossed and to the right one of his assistants is working on the drawing, (possibly Davey Davidson, see Look Magazine, September 17, 1957, page 31). Shelves are in the background. Photographed at Taliesin possibly in May. Alfred Eisenstaedt writes in Time Magazine (June 11, 1956, page 17) and Modern Photography that "I shall always remember my assignment to photograph Frank Lloyd Wright. It was done under such rushed, almost impossible conditions." He had just photographed Dr. J. Robert Oppenheimer and Dr. Jacques Maritain in Princeton, N.J. early in the day. He rushed back to his office. Caught a plane to Madison arriving a midnight. Had a few hours of sleep, and rushed to Taliesin to photograph Wright the next day. He was only at Taliesin for two hours. All were shot within 45 minutes and with three rolls of film. This is just one of the many images photographed that day. An in depth article describing his photo shoot at Taliesin is published in Modern Photography, September 1957, pages 52-57, 110-112.
Photographed by Alfred Eisenstaedt. Courtesy Time/Life Magazines.
7.5 x 10 print. High res digital image.
1147.24.0609
Wright at 89 (7k) (1956) Wright at 89 (1956) Wright is seated behind a drawing table, looking directly at the camera with a slight smile on his face. His arms are crossed. One of his assistants hands can be seen on the right. Shelves are in the background. Photographed at Taliesin possibly in May. Alfred Eisenstaedt writes in Time Magazine (June 11, 1956, page 17) and Modern Photography that "I shall always remember my assignment to photograph Frank Lloyd Wright. It was done under such rushed, almost impossible conditions." He had just photographed Dr. J. Robert Oppenheimer and Dr. Jacques Maritain in Princeton, N.J. early in the day. He rushed back to his office. Caught a plane to Madison arriving a midnight. Had a few hours of sleep, and rushed to Taliesin to photograph Wright the next day. He was only at Taliesin for two hours. All were shot within 45 minutes and with three rolls of film. This is just one of the many images photographed that day. An in depth article describing his photo shoot at Taliesin is published in Modern Photography, September 1957, pages 52-57, 110-112.
Photographed by Alfred Eisenstaedt. Courtesy Time/Life Magazines.
8 x 10 print. High res digital image.
1147.24.0609
Wright at 89 (7l) (1956) Wright at 89 (1956) Contact sheet with 25 images. Alfred Eisenstaedt writes in Time Magazine (June 11, 1956, page 17) and Modern Photography that "I shall always remember my assignment to photograph Frank Lloyd Wright. It was done under such rushed, almost impossible conditions." He had just photographed Dr. J. Robert Oppenheimer and Dr. Jacques Maritain in Princeton, N.J. early in the day. He rushed back to his office. Caught a plane to Madison arriving a midnight. Had a few hours of sleep, and rushed to Taliesin to photograph Wright the next day. He was only at Taliesin for two hours. All were shot within 45 minutes and with three rolls of film. These are just 25 of the many images photographed that day. An in depth article describing his photo shoot at Taliesin is published in Modern Photography, September 1957, pages 52-57, 110-112.
Photographed by Alfred Eisenstaedt. Published in Time Magazine, June 11, 1956, page 61; Modern Photography, September 1957, pages 53-57. Courtesy Time/Life Magazines.
8 x 10 print. High res digital image.
1147.26.0609
Wright at 89 (8), Olgivanna at 58 (1956)
Frank Lloyd Wright and Wife at Taliesin, 1956. From the Archives of the Los Angeles Examiner. In pencil on back: "Frank Lloyd Wright and wife Olga Lazovich Wright".
Original 8 x 10 silver gelatin photo.
(Note: Many Masks, Brendan Gill, page 495). Published in the "New World Odyssey" 1986 John Gurda, Pg 57.
1950.00.1203
Wright at 89 (9) (1956) Wright at 89. Frank Lloyd Wright Day. Proclaimed by Mayor Richard J. Daley. Sponsored by The Day Committee, October 16, 17, 18, 1956. Hotel Sherman, Chicago. Photographed on October 17, 1956.
Limited edition 8.5 x 11 print from digital negatives on satin semi gloss Semisatinado paper. 2/100. 2007.
8.5 x 11.
1148.02.0307
Wright at 89 (10) (1956) Wright at 89 (1956) Wright at Taliesin seated next to Chinese Stone Lion. Verso: "Artful Relaxation. Relaxing at Taliesen (caption spelling) near Spring Green, Wis., Frank Lloyd Wright sits beside an ancient stone lion from China. The piece is said to be one of the first examples of Chinese art, perhaps going back 4000 or 5000 years. Wright has a strong feeling for the art and architecture of the Orient. His greatest affinity appears to be for the Japanese and their work in these fields. The two Taliesens, in Wisconsin and Arizona, are considered "typical Wright." The word is Welsh for "shining hours." Both groups of buildings are designed according to Wright’s theories of "organic architecture," fitting the terrain, materials, function and people who will use the place. The Wisconsin Taliesen seems to grow out of the hills with soothing effects on the eyes. The Arizona Taliesen is as severe and jagged as the desert which surrounds it. 5/25/56." (For use Sunday, June 3, with Relman Morin’s Taliesen AP-N story on Frank Lloyd Wright) AP Newsfeatures Photo, Please Credit. Stamped Jun 7, 1956.
10 x 7.6 print, High res digital image.
1147.15.0609
1957
Wright at 90 (1), Olgivanna at 59 (1957) Frank Lloyd Wright at 90 (AP wirephoto) (June 8, 1957). Caption reads: "Spring Green, Wis., June 8 - Wright Celebrates 88th Birthday, Frank Lloyd Wright, the world famous architect, posed with his wife, Olgivanna (right), and his daughter Iovanna, at his 88th birthday celebration here tonight. Over 125 guests toasted Wright as he spoke of his commission from King Faisal of Iraq to design and plan a cultural center on a Tigris River island in Bagdad. He called the commission a wonderful present."
This photo is also published in the Saturday Evening Post, 2/4/61, Pg 38.
8 x 10 Print
1957.00.0500
Wright at 90 (2) (1957)
Frank Lloyd Wright at 90. Photographed in 1957 by Edgar L. Obma. Published on the cover of “Frank Lloyd Wright Decorative Designs Collection” Frank Lloyd Wright Foundation 1988. Similar view in “The Master Architect, Conversations with Frank Lloyd Wright” Meehan 1984, Pg 313.
Original 8 x 10 B&W photograph.
1205.26.0507
Wright at 90 (3) (1957) Wright at 90 (1957) Wright stands behind a podium at Taliesin, he is gesturing with his left hand, pointing out and up. There is a stack of notes on he podium, prints atop a book shelf in the background. He was working on the Baghdad project at the time. It was photographed for an article in "Look Magazine" entitled "A visit with Frank Lloyd Wright’", published on September 17, 1957.
Photographed by Michael A. Vaccaro on July 5, 1957. Similar image is on page 32.
7 x 4.9 print, High res digital image.
1205.30.0609
Wright at 90 (4) (1957) Wright at 90 (1957) Family portrait at Taliesin. Wright is seated looking to the left. Olgivanna is in the center, her head is turned to the right, but looking at the camera. Iovanna is on the floor seated on the left, looking directly into the camera. Verso: "For release: Monday A.M.’s, September 2, 1957. New York Bureau. Family Man. Madison, Wisc.: Posing for his first family portrait, world renowned architect Frank Lloyd Wright is the picture of patriarchal dignity in his home near Madison, WI. Wright, one of the pioneers in the development of modern architecture, is shown with his wife, Olgivanna, and daughter Iovanna (left), youngest of his eight children. He posed for the portrait for an article appearing in the new issue of Look Magazine. (This picture is released for publication in United States and Canadian newspapers for a period of two weeks and is subject to mandatory credit to Look Magazine). Credit (Look Magazine photo from United Press) 8/30/57. For release: Monday A.M.’s, September 2, 1957." Stamped Sep 3, 1957. It was photographed for an article in "Look Magazine" entitled "A visit with Frank Lloyd Wright’", published on September 17, 1957. Photographed by Michael A. Vaccaro around July 5, 1957. Published on page 30. (See S#1205.30)
7.7 x 10 print, High res digital image.
1205.31.0609
Wright at 90 (5) (1957) Wright at 90 (1957) Mr. & Mrs. Wright meeting with Anne Baxter (left) and Charlton Heston (to the right of Anne) at Taliesin West. Anne Baxter was Wright’s grand daughter and an actress. In 1956 Baxter stared as Nefretiri the Egyptian queen, opposite Charlton Heston and Yul Brenner in "The Ten Commandments". Baxter and Heston acted together again in "Three Violent People". It was released in late 1956 and early 1957. Set in the American West after the Civil War, Charlton Heston was an ex-Confederate officer Colt Saunders who returns to the family ranch with his new bride Lorna Hunter (Anne Baxter) and faces problems from carpetbaggers and his jealous brother, and a secret from Baxter's past. One the verso, is hand written "Press Interview". The gentleman between Heston and Wright is wearing a badge (star) that reads "Sheriff Posse". This would indicate the press interview was for "Three Violent People". Stamped "From the Jimmy Starr Collection". Jimmy Starr (1904 – 1990) was an American screenwriter and columnist. Starr worked as a screenwriter in Hollywood during the 1930s. During the 1940s he worked as a film writer and columnist, providing reviews and insights into the film world. After retirement from the Hollywood scene, Starr moved to Phoenix, Arizona. (Note: Also in 1957 Wright designed a home for Marilyn Monroe and Arthur Miller, and visited their property in Connecticut. Could she possibly have been at this press interview? There’s no record of her visiting Taliesin West.)
Courtesy of Randolph C. Henning. 8 x 10 print, High res digital image.
1205.32.0709
Wright at 90 (6) (1957)
Wright at 90 (1957) Wright meeting Charlton Heston and his grand daughter Anne Baxter (center) possibly at Taliesin West. In 1956 Baxter stared as Nefretiri the Egyptian queen, opposite Charlton Heston and Yul Brenner in "The Ten Commandments". Baxter and Heston acted together again in "Three Violent People". It was released in late 1956 and early 1957. Set in the American West after the Civil War, Charlton Heston was an ex-Confederate officer Colt Saunders who returns to the family ranch with his new bride Lorna Hunter (Anne Baxter) and faces problems from carpetbaggers and his jealous brother, and a secret from Baxter's past. Heston and Baxter held a press conference at Taliesin (1205.32) and this could possibly been in the evening, as Wright was fond of entertaining guests. Wright is wearing the same suite jacket and scarf.
5 x 6.25 print, High res digital image.
1205.33.0709
Wright at 90 (7) (1957) Wright at 90 (Circa 1957) Mr. & Mrs. Wright are holding hands as they arrive at Taliesin. He is holding a cane and looking at the camera. She is looking at him. The Wisconsin hillside can be seen in the background.
Courtesy of Randolph C. Henning. 8 x 10 print, High res digital image.
1205.34.0709
1958 Wright at 91 (1958) Frank Lloyd Wright at 91. Associated Press Caption: “Wright Dies. Architect Frank Lloyd Wright, 89, Died April 9 in Phoenix, Ariz., following an operation for an intestinal obstruction on April 4.” AP caption accompanying the photo. Photograph shot in 1957-58 with Baghdad Opera House and Gardens Drawing as backdrop.
For Illustration note: “Truth Against the World”, 1987, Meehan, page 419; “Arch Forum”, May 1958, page 89-102; “Frank Lloyd Wright Quarterly” Winter 2004. Stamped on back “Filed Apr 16, 1959 Not Used” and “Published May 17, 1970".
Original 5 x 7 silver gelatin photo.
1205.19.1006
Wright at 91 (1958) Wright at 91 (1958) Photograph shot in 1957-58 with Baghdad Opera House and Gardens Drawing as backdrop. For Illustration note: “Truth Against the World”, 1987, Meehan, page 419; “Arch Forum”, May 1958, page 89-102; “Frank Lloyd Wright Quarterly” Winter 2004.
Wright at 91 (1958) Wright at 91. Fall 1958 Wright and female at Plaza Hotel, to discuss the Radcliffe Scholarship Tour of the incomplete Guggenheim Museum. (This photograph was pasted inside the first page of a book that was purchased. Handwritten below the photograph: "At the Plaza Hotel fall 1958 to discuss the Radcliffe Scholarship Tour of the incomplete Guggenheim Museum.")
Original silver gelatin B&W photograph. 5.3 x 3.2
1259.14.0507
1970 Olgivanna at 72 (Circa 1970) Mrs. Frank Lloyd Wright at Taliesin West. Circa 1970. Photograph by Joseph F. Rorke, Resident in 1954.
Original 6 x 5.75 silver gelatin photo.
1846.01.1006
1971 Olgivanna at 73 (Circa 1971) Mrs. Frank Lloyd Wright. Stamped on back “Published August 8, 1971".
Original 8 x 10 silver gelatin photo.
1867.02.1006
CATHERINE (KITTY) TOBIN WRIGHT Catherine Tobin Wright (Circa 1907-1908) Catherine Tobin Wright. Circa 1907-1908. Catherine and her youngest child Robert Llewellyn Wright (1903-1985) age 4-5. Catherine Tobin Wright in a dress designed by Frank Lloyd Wright. See similar photograph without Robert in "The decorative designs of Frank Lloyd Wright", Hanks, page 25.
Catherine Lee (Kitty) Clark Tobin was born on March 25, 1871 in Nebraska. She was the daughter of a wealthy businessman. On June 1, 1889, Catherine and Frank were married in Chicago, Illinois. She was 17 years old. They honeymooned in Wisconsin. Raising a family dominated most of her time. In 1909, after six children and twenty years of marriage, Frank left his wife and family and traveled to Europe with Mamah Borthwick Cheney settling in Italy for about a year. In 1922 she granted Wright a divorce. Catherine Tobin Wright passed away on March 24, 1959, fifteen days before Frank Lloyd Wright.
(Note: Robert Llewellyn Wright was born on November 15, 1903 in Oak Park, IL, and passed away on February 22, 1986 in West Bethesda, MD. He married Elizabeth Bryant Kehler on July 29, 1933. He was buried in Unity Chapel Cemetery, Spring Green, WI.)
Courtesy of the Smithsonian Institute, Mrs. Robert L. Wright collection.
Published in "Frank Lloyd Wright A Biography", Secrest, 1992, page 191, dated 1907.
5 x 6.5 Print. High res digital image.
0080.07.0609
MAMAH BORTHWICK CHENEY Mamah Borthwick Cheney (Circa 1905) Martha “Mamah” Bouton Borthwick Cheney (June 19, 1869 - August 15, 1914) Mamah Borthwick was born in Boone, Iowa. She received a BA at the University of Michigan, and later worked as a librarian in Port Huron, Michigan. In 1899, she married Edwin Cheney, an electrical engineer from Oak Park, Illinois, USA. They had two children: John (1902) and Martha (1905). Edwin commissioned Wright to design them a home in 1903. In 1909, Mamah and Frank left their respective spouses and traveled to Europe, settling in Italy for about a year. Upon their return, they settled at Taliesin in Spring Green, Wisconsin. On August 15, 1914, one of Wright's recently hired domestic workers murdered Mamah, both her children, three of Wright's associates, and a son of one of the associates. He set fire to one wing of Taliesin, and murdered the seven people with an ax as they tried to escape the fire. At the time, Wright was overseeing work on Midway Gardens in Chicago. Catherine Wright refused to give Wright a divorce until November 13, 1922. Note on Verso, dated 11/15/22 (two days after divorce was granted) “Old love of famous architect who is divorced. Photo is of Mamah Borthwick Cheney who fled with Frank Lloyd Wright to a ‘Love Hegira’ in Japan, and who died in the flames of the 'Love Bungalow' of herself and Wright, at Spring Green, Wis. Note: Chicago Herald & Examiner of November 15th carried story of Frank Lloyd Wright divorce.” Very few images exist. Meryle Secrest notes in a portrait caption “Frank Lloyd Wright A Biography” 1992, page 196, “The only known photograph of Mamah Borthwick Cheney, published in the Chicago Tribune at the time of her murder, in 1914.”
Original silver gelatin 8.5 x 6.5 photograph.
0058.02.0307
Mrs. E. H. (Mamah Borthwick) Cheney. Circa 1909 Portrait of Mrs. E. H. (Mamah Borthwick) Cheney. Circa 1909 Chicago Tribune Photograph. Published in the Chicago Tribune on August 6, 1911 at the time of her divorce and in 1914 at the time of her death.
Courtesy of the Wisconsin Historical Society.
Published in "Frank Lloyd Wright A Biography" Secrest,1992, page 196; "Frank Lloyd Wright, An Interpretive Biography", Twombly, 1973, page 92.
(Note: Mamah Borthwick married Edwin Cheney when she was thirty. Could this possibly be her wedding photograph? 1899?)
4.25 x 6 Print, High res digital image.
0085.05.0509
Mamah Borthwick Cheney. Circa 1910 Mamah Borthwick Cheney. Circa 1910-1914. She appears to be just a little older in this photograph than in the other two available photographs. Note: she was 45 at the time of her death (1914). She would have been 41 years old in 1910.
Published in “Many Masks” Gill, 1987, page 207.
4.75 x 6.5 Print, High res digital image.
0094.05.0609
Very few images of Mamah Borthwick Cheney exist. The two below on the right are the only other images located to date. Meryle Secrest notes in a portrait caption (center image below) “Frank Lloyd Wright A Biography” 1992, page 196, “The only known photograph of Mamah Borthwick Cheney, published in the Chicago Tribune at the time of her murder, in 1914.”
- Detail of photo above
- Mamah Borthwick Cheney (1909)
- Mamah Borthwick Cheney
Chicago Daily Tribune - August 6, 1911 Chicago Daily Tribune - August 6, 1911
Originally published in the Chicago Daily Tribune, August 6, 1911, page 3.Her Spiritual Hegira Ends in His divorce.
-------------------------
Cheney Divorces Wife Who Eloped.
-------------------------
Oak Park Man Given Custody of Children She Deserted to Flee Abroad.
-------------------------
Affinity Tired of Her.
-------------------------
Frank L. Wright Received by Spouse After "Spiritual Hegira."Edwin H. Cheney of Oak park has secured an absolute divorce from his wife with custody of the children. The decree was entered yesterday by Judge Brentano.
Thus ends a peculiar marital tangle. Mrs. Cheney, it will be remembered, eloped with Frank Lloyd Wright, architect, about two years ago. Wright deserted his wife and babies. Mrs. Cheney left her husband and family. The two departed for Europe on what they called a "Spiritual hegira."
Wright, builder of bungalows, tired of the escapade and returned to Chicago. He was taken into the bosom of his family without any stir.
Mr. Cheney’s suit was filed July 28 in the Superior court, but he did not name Wright or make any charge except desertion.
Mr. Cheney appeared before Judge Brentano with Eugene G. Fassett, his counsel; Mrs. Armitla A. Cheney, his mother, and Attorney Walter S. Holden, the latter two appearing as witness for him.Mr. Cheney Testifies.
"About June 28, 1909, Mrs. Cheney left me, stating that she was not going to return." testified Mr. Cheney. "She also stated three days prior to that time that she was going away and would not come back.
"Since then she has not returned, neither has she offered to return. While we lived together I conducted myself kindly toward her and showed her every kind attention possible in a husband and supported her to the best of my ability."
"Did you give her any occasion to leave you?" Attorney Fassett asked Mr. Cheney.
"No, no occasion at all."
"And have you at all times had the care, custody, and control of your children."
"Yes, sir. There is an agreement between us that the children are to remain in my custody." (Complete Article...)Courtesy of the Chicago Daily Tribune, Chicago Tribune.
6.5 x 16 copy, High res digital copy.
0104.03.0609
The Detroit Tribune - August 16, 1914 The Detroit Tribune - August 16, 1914 (Detail)
The Detroit Tribune - August 16, 1914 (Published daily) Anonymous
1) Spring Green, Wis., Aug. 15. - “Negro Fires ‘Love Bungalow.’ Slays Architect’s Soul Mate and Cuts Down Eight Others. Puts Torch to Wisconsin Cottage of Frank Lloyd Wright, of Chicago, and Kills Six and Injures Three as They Crawl Out of Window.” Accounts in graphic detail the death of Mrs. Mamah Bouton Borthwick, her two children Martha and John, four others and two seriously injured. Includes one photograph.1) Pp 1-2
2) Chicago, Aug. 15. - “Frank Lloyd Wright was in his office when he received a long distance telephone message informing him of the tragedy. He was prostrated and declined to discuss it. Later he left for Spring green.” Brief history of Wright and Cheney. Original cover price 5 cents. 17.5 x 23.25.
2) Pg 2
0124.08.0607
Loving Frank (2007) Loving Frank (Advanced Reader’s Edition) (Published by Ballantine Books, a division of Random House, Inc., New York) Horan, Nancy
Fictionalization life of Mamah Borthwick Cheney. Frank and Mamah, both married and with children, met when Mamah's husband, Edwin, commissioned Wright to design a house. Their affair became the stuff of headlines when they left their families to live and travel together, going first to Germany, where Mamah found rewarding work doing scholarly translations of Swedish feminist Ellen Key's books. Frank and Mamah eventually settled in Wisconsin, where they were hounded by a scandal-hungry press, with tragic repercussions. Mamah's life is cut short in the most unexpected and violent of ways. To be released on August 7, 2007. Original HC list price $23.95. 6 x 9.25. Two copies. (First Edition)
Pp 372
2007.07.0507
2007.08.0507
MIRIAM NOEL WRIGHT Miriam Noel Wright (Circa 1900-1910) Miriam Noel Wright. Circa 1900-1910 (30-40 years old). Miriam wearing a hat, facing slightly to the right. Courtesy of the Smithsonian Institute, Phil Fedderson collection. (Note: AIA Monthly Bulletin, Michigan Society of Architects - December 1959). Published in “Many Masks” Gill, 1987, page 235.
(Phil H. Fedderson: A native of Clinton and a graduate of Iowa State University in Ames, Phil Feddersen gained his work experience with Alden Dow of Midland, Michigan before opening his own architectural firm in Clinton 1959. Like Dow, Feddersen has been strongly influenced by the later work of Frank Lloyd Wright. Many of Feddersen’s designs exhibit the "organic" design philosophy of Wright.)
5 x 7 Print. High res digital image.
0041.02.0609
Miriam Noel Wright (1923) Miriam Noel Wright (1923) Portrait of Miriam Noel Wright, second wife of Frank Lloyd Wright. 1923. Standing behind a car. Published in "Frank Lloyd Wright A Biography" Secrest, 1992, page 279; "Frank Lloyd Wright, An Interpretive Biography", Twombly, 1973, page 144; "The Vision of Frank Lloyd Wright" Heinz, 2000, page 34, dated 1919. Courtesy Wisconsin Historical Society.
Maude Miriam Noel: May 9, 1869 - January 3, 1930. Immediately after the tragic death of Mamah Cheney on August 15, 1914, Miriam Noel sent condolences to Wright. Within weeks Wright became involved with Miriam and she moved into Taliesin. On November 7, 1915 she was quoted in the Chicago Daily Tribune "...Frank Wright and I care nothing for what the world may think. We are as capable of making laws for ourselves as were the dead men who made the laws by which they hoped to rule the generations after them." Although Wright had not yet received a divorce from Kitty, they live together and travel to Tokyo, Japan in 1916. In 1922, Wright's first wife, Kitty, granted him a divorce. He was required to wait one year and on November 19, 1923, Miriam and Frank were married in Spring Green, Wisconsin. Their relationship was quite tumultuous. Wright explains in his Autobiography that he married her to rescue their relationship. "Marriage resulted in ruin for both. Instead of improving with marriage, as I had hoped, our relationship became worse." (An Autobiography, p 260). They quarreled a great deal, she was addicted to morphine, and in less than a year they were separated. In 1924, after the separation, but while still married, Wright met Olgivanna at the Petrograd Ballet in Chicago. On November 27, 1925 Miriam filed for a divorce, alleging desertion and cruelty. After a three year legal battle, they were divorced on August 26, 1927. Olga and Frank were married on August 25, 1928 at midnight in Rancho Santa Fe near La Jolla. The ceremony was held one year to the day after Wright’s divorce from Miriam. Miriam Noel Wright passed away on January 3, 1930 at the age of 61.
3.5 x 6 Print. High res digital image.
0156.03.0509
Miriam Noel Wright. (November 28, 1925) Miriam Noel Wright. Photographed on November 28, 1925. International Newsreel photograph.
Caption on verso reads "(Mrs. Frank Lloyd Wright). 28 Nov 1925 - With the filing of a suit for divorce by Mrs. Miriam Noel Wright, famous sculptress against Frank Wright, world renowned architect, comes to the light the first knowledge of their legal marriage four years ago. Eleven years ago, Mrs. Noel threw conventions to the wind by taking up her abode with the eccentric architect in his $80,000 "love bungalow" at Spring Green, Wis., taking the place of Wright's murdered affinity, Mamah Borthwick Cheney, whose life was snuffed out by a demented colored caretaker. Mrs. Wright scoffs at the great herald chivalry of her architect husband, and charges cruelty against him, specially mentioning one occasion when he broke two of her ribs. She also speaks of a Mrs. Olga Milanoff, young dark haired Russian, who claims entered the famous "love nest" as a servant, but remained as a sweetheart. Wright is recognized as one of the foremost architects in the world."
3.5 x 4.75 Print. High res digital image.
0171.03.0609
Miriam Noel Wright (February 1, 1927)
Miriam Noel Wright (February 1, 1927 - San Francisco) International Newsreel photograph. Caption on verso reads "Slug (Mrs. Frank Lloyd Wright). Love's Eternal Triangle-Missing Mate Found in San Francisco. Present wife but not the mate of Frank Lloyd Wright, noted architect, Miriam Noel Wright has been found here, the first trace of her since her disappearance from Chicago last December. She is firm in her determination not to permit Wright to obtain a divorce. See San Francisco Examiner Feb. 1st for Story. All Bureaus (list A) Ex.....2/2/27." Courtesy International Newsreel.
4.5 x 6 Print. High res digital image.
0198.01.0609
Footnote: San Francisco Examiner Feb. 1, 1927: "Maud Miriam Noel Wright, the wife of architect Frank Lloyd Wright, has been living in the Claremont Apartments on Sutter Street in San Francisco since December 1926. She is recuperating in California while her suit for separate maintenance is pending and while her husband's lawyers vainly urge her to divorce him."
MRS. JOHN LLOYD WRIGHT Mrs. John Lloyd Wright (1920s) Mrs. John Lloyd Wright Detail
Mrs. John Lloyd Wright. Photograph of a portrait by Chicago artist Frank A. Werner, Born April 15, 1877 Akron, OH, Died July 6, 1953 Chicago, IL.
This photograph of the portrait was taken by Frederick O. Bemm, Art Institute Chicago Staff Photographer.
Verso: Mrs. John Lloyd Wright. Not dated.
I have not been able to verify if this truly is “Mrs. Wright” or which of his wives it was. I would estimate it had to be Jeanette or Hazel.
John Lloyd Wright: Born 12/12/1892, Oak Park, Illinois, died 12/20/1972, Del Mar, San Diego, California. On returning to Chicago in late 1913, John was placed in charge of his father's office, now located in Orchestra Hall on Michigan Avenue, where he handled business matters when Frank Lloyd Wright was at Taliesin, the home he had built for himself and Mamah Cheney at Spring Green, Wisconsin. In 1914 John Lloyd Wright married Jeanette Winters, a young woman he had met in Los Angeles, they were divorced in 1920. The young couple moved into a tiny wooden building at 938 Lincoln Parkway. They dubbed their home "Bird Center," decorating it with jig sawed and painted birds. In 1920, John moved back to Oak Park, to the apartment which his father had outfitted over the old studio in order to provide some income for John's mother, who still lived in the old family home. He remained there after marrying again, this time to Hazel Josephine Lundin (1896 - 1972) on 10/27/1921, and it was there that his first child, Elizabeth Lloyd Wright Ingraham born on 7/26/1923. Late in 1923, he and his family moved to Long Beach, a lakeside residential enclave of Michigan City, Indiana. There he renewed his architectural practice, starting with the construction of his own house and studio, Studio Court, built in 1924. His second child was John Lloyd Wright (2/23/1925 - 1/30/1974). In 1942 he married for the third time to Frances Welch.
Original 6.5 x 9.25 vintage silver gelatin photograph, circa 1920s.
Set includes six photographs of Werner’s work and two brochures.
0142.03.0307
- ANNE BAXTER
Anne Baxter February 1942 “Anne Baxter - 20th Century Fox Player”. February 1942. Published by 20th Century Fox Film Corp. Anne Baxter was born in Michigan City, Indiana, on May 7, 1923. She was the daughter of a salesman and his wife, Catherine, who herself was the daughter of Frank Lloyd Wright. Anne was a young girl of 11 when her parents moved to New York City.
Verso: “Play time... and it's also time for exercise too for charming 17 year old Anne Baxter, who is being groomed for stardom by 20th Century-Fox following her featured performance in ‘Swamp Water’ for that studio.”
Original 8 x 10 vintage silver gelatin photograph.
0593.04.0307
Anne Baxter July 1944 Anne Baxter. July 1944. Published by 20th Century Fox Film Corp. Anne Baxter was born in Michigan City, Indiana, on May 7, 1923. She was the daughter of a salesman and his wife, Catherine, who herself was the daughter of Frank Lloyd Wright. Anne was a young girl of 11 when her parents moved to New York City.
Verso: “Playing Heroine Roles and getting top billing in her movies is all well and good, but pretty Anne Baxter says that for just once in her career she wants to play a siren or ‘other women’ type of part...”
Original 7.5 x 9.5 vintage silver gelatin photograph.
0603.03.0307
Anne Baxter 1952 Anne Baxter. 1952. “The Outcasts of Poker Flat’ starring Anne Baxter, Dale Robertson” 52/141.
Published by 20th Century Fox Film Corp. Anne Baxter was born in Michigan City, Indiana, on May 7, 1923. She was the daughter of a salesman and his wife, Catherine, who herself was the daughter of Frank Lloyd Wright. Anne was a young girl of 11 when her parents moved to New York City.
Original 8 x 10 vintage silver gelatin photograph.
0910.18.0307
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