JOURNAL OF
ORGANIC ARCHITECTURE + DESIGN
VOL. 9 / NO. 3

FRANK LLOYD WRIGHT AT THE FINE ARTS BUILDING

by Kathryn Smith

:: DOUBLE-SIZED ISSUE :: 76 pages :: with 103 images

Between 1898-1918, the period known as the Chicago Renaissance, the Fine Arts Building was central to an artistic evolution from the Victorian era to the emergence of modernism.

It was during this major period of creative activity that Frank Lloyd Wright was
interwoven with the history of the Fine Arts Building. The discussion of Wright and the Fine Arts Building usually begins and ends with the four interiors he designed between 1907 and 1917. The first two commissions are directly related in form and details: Browne’s Bookstore and Offices (1907) and Thurber Art Galleries (1909). The last two reveal his passion for Japanese art and design: S.H. Mori Studio (1914-15) and an exhibition of his own Japanese print and Chinese art collection at the Arts Club (1917).

This landmark publication written by celebrated author and historian Kathryn Smith features newly discovered research accompanied by never-before-published photos and drawings. Together they underscore that there is much more to the story of Frank Lloyd Wright and the Fine Arts Building than just his lost interiors.

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