Monday, April 7, 2003

Frank Lloyd Wright's Chinese Connection Part III

Frank Lloyd Wright's Chinese Connection Part III
[生活型態 ]
(2003/04/07)



Frank Lloyd Wright's Chinese Connection Part III

We continue our series of articles highlighting Frank Lloyd Wright's "Chinese Connection." As noted earlier, Wright was an avid collector of Chinese art, including paintings, ceramics and sculpture. Wright was fully aware of Chinese design motifs, which turn up in Wright's work in a number of different ways.

Wright even decorated the landscape surrounding Taliesin with Chinese sculptures such as this seated statue of Kuan Ying, the Chinese Goddess of Mercy.

As a First Generation Modernist who believed in "Total Design," Wright's choices were not arbitary. Taliesin was Wright's refuge from the unwelcome notoriety generated by serial indiscretions with his clients' wives. The Kuan Ying statue was an element of Wright's attempt to establish a serene atmosphere as an escape from his scandal-ridden public life.

-- Bevin Chu

Explanation: Frank Lloyd Wright's Chinese Connection Part III
IIllustration(s): Kuan Ying Sculpture at Frank Lloyd Wright's Taliesin
Author: Bevin Chu
Affiliation: CETRA Design Information Section
Source: Bevin Chu, Registered Architect
Publication Date: 2003
Original Language: English
Editor: Bevin Chu, Registered Architect

1 comment:

Unknown said...

Many of his stain-glass windows ("light screens") also clearly reflect the Chinese influence, e.g. http://pompeiglass.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/04/gibbons_house.jpg or http://www.jlsloan.com/photos/8_tapestry.jpg

Not only are these obvious modifications of standard Chinese window designs, the changes themselves would make even the most xenophobic Taoist (if such a thing existed) proud: instead of latticework, he used *geometrized nature*, explicitly drawing inspiration from plants and flowers, etc.