Archives and Museums


OTHER RESOURCES


Art Institute of Chicago

Chicago, Illinois

Extensive archival materials available at the Art Institute of Chicago concerning the work of Frank Lloyd Wright are held by the museum's Department of Architecture and in the collections of the Ryerson and Burnham Libraries. These materials include documentation of the early years of Wright's career, records relating to those who worked for him (e.g. Walter Burley and Marion Mahony Griffin), numerous buildings, important clients, and participation in the evolving milieu of architectural practice in the Midwest. In addition, there are collections reflecting the scholarship of Wright historians. The collections noted below are those containing information or resources deemed useful by John Geiger in his studies of drawings.

COLLECTIONS

Ryerson and Burnham Archives Archival Image Collection

Descriptions of more than 1,190 Wright-related drawings, photographs, ephemera, and publications can be found in the online catalog, although many descriptions lack an online image. These references represent numerous architectural designs, both while Wright was in the office of Adler and Sullivan or Louis Sullivan, and later his own practice. The drawings shown on this site were not entered into the Geiger database unless published or found in the Frank Lloyd Wright Archives. Some of these images are related to the archival collections noted below.

Wrightiana Collection (circa 1897-1985 [bulk 1899-1933])

A group of 21 digital images for the Wrightiana collection consists of drawings for the George W. Blossom house, the Russell M. W. Kraus house, a Taliesin Fellowship holiday card, a publication related to the Spring, 1914 exhibition of work by Wright at the Art Institute of Chicago under the auspices of the Chicago Architectural Sketch Club, and several portraits of Wright. Finding aid PDF.

Donald Hoffman Collection (1897-2008 [bulk 1963-2000])

Extensive records accumulated by the author of ten books and numerous other publications about Frank Lloyd Wright, this collection contains information on many Wright buildings, correspondence with Curtis Besinger, and exchanges with prominent Wright scholars and other historians. Finding aid PDF.

Herbert and Katherine Jacobs--Frank Lloyd Wright Collection (1936-1974)

Frank Lloyd Wright designed three houses for these clients, notably the first of the Usonian residential forms. The collection contains drawings, correspondence, photographs, publications, and other forms of documentation that comprehensively illuminate the process of working with Wright to realize construction of two houses and the development of a third project. Four images are available online, and there is a finding aid to the remainder of the collection. The drawings shown on this site were not entered into the Geiger database unless published or found in the Frank Lloyd Wright Archives. Finding aid PDF.

Frank Lloyd Wright in Michigan Collection (1945-1988*

Compiled by historian Dale A. Northrup as research for his book Frank Lloyd Wright in Michigan, the collection contains architectural plans and specifications, correspondence, photographs, and published materials documenting work by Wright. Available digital images include photographs of eleven Wright houses. Finding aid PDF.