Frank Lloyd Wright: American Master Book

So this is a combined commentary on both Frank Lloyd Wright - A Life - by Ada Louise Huxtable and at the same time Frank Lloyd Wright - American Master by Alan Weintraub and Kathryn Smith - the second being primarily a book of photographs.

I began the Huxtable book, in Kindle format, during a long vacation which by its nature discouraged carting around heavy books. I have to mention that as there were virtually no photos in the Kindle book and when I have found photos in Kindle editions they are sometimes less voluminous and less good than in bound books - and my Kindle lacks color too.

Well Frank Lloyd Wright came out in the biography and his trials and struggles and ego and talent and character seemed to be well explained (albeit with some seemingly accurate prejudices or judgments of the author showing through) and presented from several perspectives, Wright's (as the author thought), the press, the industry, his customers etc etc.

When I returned from the trip I picked up the photo book I had bought for my wife and started to follow his progress and to look at the projects and was able to compare them to the descriptions in the book. The photos are of the projects in a chronological order so both books progress together and once they are meshed there is no need to go back in the pages of either.

Except for the exhibit at the Metropolitan Museum and the short exhibition at the Museum of Modern Art (both New York City museums) in 2014 on Density vs. Dispersal I really had not seen so much of Wright's work (except the the Guggenheim Museum in New York as I live there) and a visit for a half day at Taliesin West a few years a go.

So now I was able to see may of the projects as I read the text and the enormity of this mans talents and gifts just come rushing out. It is overwhelming what he could accomplish in that he was more than an architect, not just the building, but the furnishing and decor etc. And further the volume of work that he seems to have turned out.

So I would say that if there is interest in the man or in 20th century architecture, or American architecture, or in romantic tragedies with action this is the combo for you to read. You can get the romantic action tragedies without the photo book but for the other aspects you need a good photographic record to go with the biography I think. Either book alone would no have gotten four stars from me.