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Finding aid to the Bill Schmidt collection of Frank Lloyd Wright printed material, 1883-1987
850689  
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Collection Details
 
Table of contents What's This?
  • Descriptive Summary
  • Biographical/Historical Note
  • Administrative Information
  • Scope and Content of Collection
  • Indexing Terms

  • Descriptive Summary

    Title: Bill Schmidt collection of Frank Lloyd Wright printed material
    Date (inclusive): 1883-1987
    Number: 850689
    Creator/Collector: Schmidt, Bill (Walter)
    Physical Description: 15.0 linear feet (45 boxes)
    Repository:
    The Getty Research Institute
    Special Collections
    1200 Getty Center Drive, Suite 1100
    Los Angeles, California, 90049-1688
    (310) 440-7390
    Abstract: Postcards, photographs, museum catalogs, and other printed ephemera assembled by Schmidt show many of Wright's most famous buildings and note the relationship of his work to that of other architects. The bulk of the collection comprises journals and other printed materials describing Wright, his work, or his ideas; some of the printed ephemera is published by the Taliesin Fellowship. All but two of the publications are listed in R. L. Sweeney's Frank Lloyd Wright: An Annotated Bibliography and are arranged by Sweeney number. The collection also includes copies of letters, plans, and some manuscript material.
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    Language: Collection material is in English

    Biographical/Historical Note

    Bill Schmidt (also known as Walter Schmidt), was a collector of Frank Lloyd Wright bibliographic and archival material.

    Administrative Information

    Access

    Open for use by qualified researchers.

    Publication Rights

    Preferred Citation

    Bill Schmidt collection of Frank Lloyd Wright printed material, ca 1883-1987, Research Library, The Getty Research Insititute, Accession no. 850689.
    http://hdl.handle.net/10020/cifa850689

    Acquisition Information

    The Getty acquired this collection in 1985.

    Processing History

    J. Gibbs processed the collection and wrote the finding aid in 2000.

    Scope and Content of Collection

    The collection contains postcards, printed ephemera and single issues of journals containing information about Frank Lloyd Wright and his designs. Most of the items are single issues of architectural or home design magazines, and all but two of the publications are listed in R. L. Sweeney's Frank Lloyd Wright: an annotated bibliography. The publications are arranged by Sweeney number.
    Included in the collection are publications and printed ephemera from the Taliesan Fellowship (ca. 1930s-1970s), and a fine printed booklet of Harwell Hamilton Harris's Architecture as art, 1969. Other printed ephemera, including postcards, relate to Wright buildings, such as Unity Church, the Larkin building, the Imperial Hotel (Teikoku Hoteru), or to conferences, exhibitions, other events or publications. A few of the images in the collection refer to Wright's influence on graphic and architectural design, and his sources. One file of papers (ca. 70 items) contains plans, correspondence, photographs and manuscript material (most photocopies) from Louis Penfield about the Penfield houses (#1 and #2) designed by Wright in 1952. A notebook holds ca. 15 photocopied letters from Wright to various people; a few letters are from associates of Wright, and one is from Louis Sullivan (1909?) about the drawings for the Bradley house.

    Arrangement note

    The collection is arranged in two series: Series I. Postcards, photographs and ephemera, 1883-1987; Series II. Publications about F. L. Wright, 1900-1981

    Indexing Terms

    Subjects - Names

    Sullivan, Louis H., 1856-1924
    Wright, Frank Lloyd, 1867-1959
    Wright, Lloyd, 1890-1978

    Subjects - Corporate Bodies

    Annunciation Greek Orthodox Church (Milwaukee, Wis.)
    Hollyhock House (Hollywood, Los Angeles, Calif.)
    Larkin Building (Buffalo, N.Y.)
    Paul R. Hanna House (Stanford, Calif.)
    Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum
    Taliesin Fellowship
    Teikoku Hoteru
    Unitarian Universalist Church in Oak Park (Oak Park, Ill.)
    Wayfarers Chapel (Rancho Palos Verdes, Calif.)

    Subjects - Topics

    Architects
    Architects--United States
    Architecture
    Architecture, Modern
    Architecture, Modern--20th century
    Architecture--Periodicals
    Architecture--United States
    Architecture--United States--20th century
    Photographic prints--United States--20th century
    Postcards--United States--20th century
    Usonian houses
    Usonian houses--California--Stanford
    Usonian houses--Unites States

    Genres and Forms of Material

    Ephemera
    Ephemera--20th century
    Photographic prints
    Photographs, Original
    Postcards

    Contributors

    Frank Lloyd Wright Foundation
    Hanna, Jean Shuman
    Hanna, Paul Robert, 1902-
    Harris, Harwell Hamilton, 1903-1990
    Penfield, Louis A., 1918-2002
    Schmidt, Bill (Walter)
    Sullivan, Louis H., 1856-1924
    Taliesin Fellowship