Frank Lloyd Wright Archives to Join Collections of Avery Library and
    The Museum of Modern Art

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NEW YORK, September 5, 2012 –

Columbia University <http://www.columbia.edu/>'s Avery Architectural & 
Fine Arts Library 
<http://library.columbia.edu/content/libraryweb/indiv/avery.html>, The 
Museum of Modern Art <http://www.moma.org/>, and The Frank Lloyd Wright 
Foundation <http://www.franklloydwright.org/> have announced that the 
vast archives of Frank Lloyd Wright (American, 1867-1959) have been 
jointly acquired by the University and the Museum and will become part 
of their permanent collections.

Frank Lloyd Wright
The Frank Lloyd Wright Foundation Archives (The Museum of Modern Art | 
Avery Architectural & Fine Arts Library, Columbia University, New York)

The Frank Lloyd Wright archives include some 23,000 architectural 
drawings, 44,000 historical photographs, large-scale presentation 
models, manuscripts, extensive correspondence and other documents. Joint 
stewardship and preservation of the archives will provide new impetus 
for publications, exhibitions, and public programs on Wright’s work, 
allowing it to be displayed in the context of other great 20th century 
modernists. It will also maximize the visibility and research value of 
the collection for generations of scholars, students and the public.

"This joint acquisition of the Frank Lloyd Wright archives is 
extraordinary, but the true beneficiaries of this creative and historic 
partnership will be the students and scholars from around the world who 
will be able to access and use these rich Wright resources in new 
disciplinary contexts and through innovative technologies," Jim Neal, 
University Librarian and Vice President for Information Services, said.

The complete physical archives will be permanently transferred to the 
collections of Columbia and MoMA under a joint acquisition and 
stewardship agreement. Avery Library will be the repository for all 
paper-based archival contents. The Museum of Modern Art will house all 
three-dimensional works. The Archives add to Avery and MoMA's existing 
collections of materials by Frank Lloyd Wright.

"At Avery, Wright’s rich legacy of archival materials joins the great 
historic architects whose works are preserved here — from Sebastiano 
Serlio to Piranesi, and other key 19th and 20th century American 
figures," said Carole Ann Fabian, director of Columbia’s Avery 
Architectural & Fine Arts Library. "Wright's archives will receive the 
fullest exposure for curricular uses and research-intensive 
interrogation by students, scholars and the interested public."

Renowned worldwide for its extensive research and special collections, 
the Avery collections include the world’s masterworks of architectural 
history from the Renaissance to the present, including ongoing 
acquisition of virtually every research volume issued on Wright. 
Students and researchers have unfettered access to our unparalleled 
collection of rare books and unique materials comprising more than 1.5 
million drawings and archival documents.

The Avery Classics (rare book collection) includes more than 50 rare 
Frank Lloyd Wright editions such as Wright's personal copy of /The House 
Beautiful,/ several copies of the /Wasmuth Portfolio/, a comprehensive 
collection of Wright biographies, and his autobiography signed for his 
son, John Lloyd Wright. Avery Drawings & Archives holds Fallingwater 
blueprints and archival materials from the Kaufmann family; manuscripts 
and drawings from John Lloyd Wright including the great Dana House 
rendering and the magnificent plan for the Lake Tahoe Summer Colony 
project, drawings of the Oak Park Studio, photographs of the home and 
studio; as well as a variety of Wright projects. These projects include 
a preliminary set of blueprints for the Guggenheim Museum, the Joseph 
Brewer house, the rendering of the Vosburgh house, the project for St. 
Mark's-in-the-Bouwerie, the Usonian house for the Auerbach family; the 
rendering, correspondence, photographs, and ephemera relating to the New 
Theater in Hartford, CT. These materials are further supported by 
contextual collections such as Wright’s drawings from the time he worked 
in Louis Sullivan’s practice; recently acquired Edgar Tafel archive 
<http://library.columbia.edu/content/libraryweb/news/libraries/2012/20120117_edgar_tafel_archives.html> 
(Wright's historian and hagiographer); Douglas Haskell/Architectural 
Forum papers on FLW; Hugh Ferriss' renderings of FLW projects done for 
Ferriss publications; Aaron Resnick collection containing house plans 
and topographical plans for Usonia to be built in Pleasantville, New 
York. The addition of the Wright archives deepens these existing 
collections of Wright materials and continues Avery's commitment to 
collecting the works of the world’s greatest architects as represented 
in the published literature, drawings, architectural photography and 
archival documentation.

This joint acquisition signals a ground-breaking collaboration between 
the two institutions to ensure long term access and preservation of the 
materials, at the same time providing opportunities to celebrate the 
collections through public programs, exhibitions and publications.

The Frank Lloyd Wright Foundation will help guide development of the 
archives and provide interpretive insights on Wright’s work and life. It 
will continue to preserve and share Wright's National Historic Landmarks 
at Taliesin in Wisconsin and Taliesin West in Arizona, including the 
historic furnishings, memorabilia and artifacts used to interpret both 
sites, along with large and important collections of art, furniture and 
artifacts that Wright created and collected over his lifetime.

Born in 1867, Frank Lloyd Wright spent more than 70 years creating 
designs that helped revolutionize the art and architecture of the 
twentieth century. In all he designed 1141 architectural works - 
including houses, offices, churches, schools, libraries, bridges, 
museums and many other building types. Of that total, 532 resulted in 
completed structures, 409 of which still stand. However, Wright’s 
pioneering creativity was not confined to architecture. He also designed 
furniture, fabrics, art glass, lamps, dinnerware, silver, linens and 
graphic arts. A prolific writer, educator and philosopher, Wright 
authored twenty books and countless articles and lectured throughout the 
United States and in Europe.

The existence of the magnificent Frank Lloyd Wright archives is the 
result of visionary actions and hard work by those who knew and loved 
Wright. During his lifetime, the architect had declined to donate 
portions of his work to various museums and institutions, preferring to 
keep together his life's work. Upon Wright's death in 1959, Mrs. Wright 
gathered the archive of his work at Taliesin West, thereby preserving 
and keeping intact the visual and textual legacy of one of history's 
great geniuses. It was an unprecedented action as architectural archives 
of such size and scope for a single architect did not exist at that time.

Wright is considered by many to be one of the 20th century's most 
influential architects, a figure whose iconic work helped define 
modernism. The American Institute of Architects, in a recent national 
survey, recognized him as "the greatest American architect of all time."

For more information, including a video and slideshow about the 
acquisition, please visit Avery's Frank Lloyd Wright web site 
<http://library.columbia.edu/content/libraryweb/indiv/avery/da/FrankLloydWrightCollection.html>. 


Columbia's*Avery Architectural & Fine Arts Library* is one of the most 
comprehensive architecture and the fine arts library collections in the 
world. Avery collects a full range of primary and secondary sources for 
the advanced study of architecture, historic preservation, art history, 
decorative arts, city planning, real estate, and archaeology. It 
contains more than 575,000 volumes including more than 40,000 rare 
books, and receives approximately 1,500 periodicals. Avery's Drawings 
and Archives collection includes 1.5 million architectural drawings and 
records. The Avery Library is home to the /Avery Index to Architectural 
Periodicals/, the only comprehensive American guide to the current 
literature of architecture and design. For more information, please 
visit: library.columbia.edu/indiv/avery.html <http://../indiv/avery.html>.

*Columbia University Libraries/Information Services* is one of the top 
five academic research library systems in North America. The collections 
include over 11 million volumes, over 150,000 journals and serials, as 
well as extensive electronic resources, manuscripts, rare books, 
microforms, maps, and graphic and audio-visual materials. The services 
and collections are organized into 22 libraries and various academic 
technology centers. The Libraries employs more than 500 professional and 
support staff. The website of the Libraries is the gateway to its 
services and resources: library.columbia.edu <http://library.columbia.edu/>.

-- 
Carole Ann Fabian
Director
Avery Architectural and Fine Arts Library
1172 Amsterdam Avenue MC0301
New York, NY 10027
212-854-3068
Web:http://library.columbia.edu/indiv/avery.html
News:https://blogs.cul.columbia.edu/avery/
--
Project Director
Built Works Registry
http://builtworksregistry.wordpress.com/


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