Frank Lloyd Wright

Samuel Johnson Woolf American

On view at The Met Fifth Avenue in Gallery 773

Between 1918 and 1948, Woolf created charcoal portraits of notable figures and conducted interviews for the “New York Times Magazine” series “Drawings from Life.” His shoulder-length portrait of esteemed architect Frank Lloyd Wright (1867–1959) was published in his January 17, 1932, interview, “A Pioneer in Architecture Surveys It—Frank Lloyd Wright Tells What He Thinks is Wrong with Our Skyscrapers and Calls for More Expressive Forms.” Wright’s facial features are carefully observed and accentuated with white chalk highlights, a contrast to the sketchily rendered jacket and tie. The architect’s own signature appears prominently as Woolf asked his subjects to sign their portraits as evidence of authenticity.

Frank Lloyd Wright, Samuel Johnson Woolf (American, New York 1880–1948 New York), Charcoal and white chalk on paper, American

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