Frank Lloyd Wright and the Art of Japan: The Architects Other Passion
Wood-block prints by artists like Hiroshige and Hokusai exerted a palpable influence on Frank Lloyd Wright's design aesthetic, but Wright was able to profit materially from them as well. During his early years as an architect, he supplemented his income by dealing in Japanese art, earning tens of thousands of dollars from sales, often at highly inflated prices, to private collectors, museums, and clients for whom he had built homes. In this meticulously researched, lavishly illustrated account, Wright's mercenary impulse is laid alongside his genuine passion for Japonisme, culminating in a 1919 episode in which, duped by a Tokyo dealer, he wound up selling forged and retouched prints to his best customers. His reputation forever damaged, he responded by ignoring his mounting debts and buying Japanese art only for himself.Copyright © 2005The New Yorker