Frank Lloyd Wright Gallery Opens On SC Johnson Headquarters, Exploring The Architect's Influence On American Homes (SLIDESHOW)

Few architects affected public and private American life as profoundly as Frank Lloyd Wright. Even today, his best known works serve one and the other -- the Guggenheim Museum in New York City, and Fallingwater, the vacation home he built on a waterfall in Pennsylvania.

Now visitors to Wright's home state of Wisconsin can view the architect's two legacies at once, on the grounds of one of his largest corporate projects. June 2 marks the opening date of The SC Johnson Gallery: At Home With Frank Lloyd Wright, a free-of-charge museum on the SC Johnson campus (which Wright designed in the 1930s) devoted to Wright's influence on the American home. The Gallery will feature a rotating selection of designs and artifacts curated by Bruce Brooks Pfeiffer of Taliesen West, Wright's winter home in Arizona, and Brady Roberts, Chief Curator of the Milwaukee Art Museum, some of which have never been displayed before. For a preview of the museum, click through the slideshow below, and check out the infographic below that detailing how the exhibit came to be.

Loading Slideshow

• Ward Willits House Dining Room

  Dining Room, Ward W. Willits House (Highland Park, Illinois), 1902 Photograph: Paul Rocheleau, 1992

• Thomas P. Hardy House

  View of the Thomas P. Hardy House (Racine, Wisconsin), 1905 Graphite pencil, ink, and white wash on paper, photographic reproduction Frank Lloyd Wright Foundation, Taliesin West, Scottsdale, Arizona, 0506.002

• Avery Coonley Playhouse

  Exterior View, Avery Coonley Playhouse (Riverside, Illinois), 1912 Frank Lloyd Wright Foundation, Taliesin West, Scottsdale, Arizona, 1201.0003

• Heath Windows

  Pair of Bookcase Doors for the William R. Heath House (Buffalo, New York), 1903 Leaded glass (iridized glass and zinc cames) with wood frame Frank Lloyd Wright Foundation, Taliesin West, Scottsdale, Arizona, 1161.0

• Oak Reception Chair

  Oak Park Studio Chair, Oak Park, Illinois, 1897 Oak with leather upholstery Frank Lloyd Wright Foundation, Taliesin West, Scottsdale, A

• Heath Chandelier

  Hanging Lamp for the William R. Heath House (Buffalo, New York), 1903 Leaded glass (iridized glass and zinc cames). Conserved with some replacement glass and new hanging hardware

• "Flag and Balloon"

  Sample window for the Avery Coonley Playhouse (Riverside, Illinois), 1912 Clear glass, flashed glass, and zinc cames Frank Lloyd Wright Foundation, Taliesin West, Scottsdale, AZ, 1161.996

• SC Johnson Gallery

• SC Johnson Gallery

Comments

[JScott]

11:21 AM on 06/04/2012

Some of his works are great (Fallingwater) and some not so much (parts of Taliesin West), the structural engineering of some if them are lacking (they had to reinforce parts of Fallingwater seamlessley tho to keep it from falling into the water) and he built/designed before there was anything close to 'building codes' amounting to hazards (aka carpets right up to the edge of the fireplace at TW) And of course the Ennis Brown House had/has to be get repaired, the textile blocks were deteriorating. He was great but not all that great.

[littlebrowngirl]

10:22 PM on 06/02/2012

I live the way light dances in FLW homes.

[Randybostonterrier]

07:38 AM on 06/02/2012

I am lucky I live about 1-2 hours from Fallingwater and Kentuck Knob (15 min ride from Fallingwater) and in the Laurel Highlands of PA. Both Wright homes are so enjoyable to tour. People would be surprised that even in their hometowns there may be a Wright home to tour. There is one around Buffalo, NY. The best biography on him and his work is from Ken Burns.

[playflute2]

09:56 AM on 06/02/2012

I visited Fallingwater a number of years ago and fell in love with it. Would happily live there.

[usamade]

04:16 PM on 06/02/2012

It's beautiful there. I live in Pittsburgh and we try to make it up there once a year.

[Laughert9]

07:15 PM on 06/01/2012

Love FLW. Love Fallingwater. The Guggenheim, however, is the worst showcase for art ever built.

[playflute2]

09:59 AM on 06/02/2012

I visited the Guggenheim with my son several years ago. He is an artist and we just enjoyed seeing the art (and going in circles, mostly). They were doing repairs when we were there, so some of the museum was 'off limits'. Thus, diversity makes the world go 'round.

[Dots]

10:58 AM on 06/01/2012

FLW speaks to my soul. I have visited many of his projects and am always inspired. If I were younger it would be one of my life goals to see as many as possible.

[S Augustyn]

09:46 PM on 05/31/2012

I was hoping to learn how FLW influenced American homes. So perhaps someone who knows could share, as the article didn't really say.

[khbrake]

11:11 AM on 06/01/2012

He did so many things to influence American homes. I can provide a tough summary, but it really won't do him justice. He brought "Architecture" with a capital "A" to private homes. People could commission him to design their houses, he designed many more than you would think. He had this unique ability to understand style. He created various styles of houses that most people had never seen. If you are curious to learn more you could google the various "styles". Prairie Houses, Usonian, California. He worked for Louis Sullivan in his early career. He was a designer who took risks (during the time he was getting started Victorian style ruled) He strayed from the decorative elemental "rules" of that style and began to play other elements into his designs. If you search for his work in google images, I am sure you will be able to see the distinctness of his work.

[S Augustyn]

02:51 PM on 06/01/2012

Thanks! I appreciate it. There was a FLW home in the little Midwestern town I grew up in, hence my interest.

[Gentleman Agitator]

05:39 PM on 05/31/2012

I am a big Wright fan. I must say though that if his influence was so profound, why do most new houses look so awful?

[violettefemme]

11:51 AM on 06/01/2012

Money money money money money. His stuff ran his finances into the ground, he went over budget to the tune of other people's going bankrupt to keep him afloat and producing. High end materials, construction, etc. Not that we all don't deserve it, but hey, life in a corporate fascist state is seldom beautiful,, because of cost.

And today, cheap and cr@ptastic rules American!

[hope61]

04:02 PM on 05/31/2012

Had the pleasure of visiting Falling Waters last year as a Mother's Day gift from my daughter. Totally mesmerized. Hence my avi, a picture of one of the many outside art pieces on the many terraces/balconies. The man was a genius...

[Hardyman1966]

10:28 AM on 06/01/2012

I am insanely jealous.  For now I have to settle for the Lego model.  :)

[hope61]

06:41 PM on 06/01/2012

Please do visit if you can,  It's a very serene experience.  :)

[cmiq]

02:11 PM on 05/31/2012

Love FLW, but some of his furniture is more like a torture device than something you would want to sit in.

[fifi lahkay]

03:18 PM on 05/31/2012

I agree about the chairs. If I won the lotto (small joke there), my house would be in the style of FLW, but with comfortable chairs (ala the deco period, say).

I grew up living close by Oak Park, and I'm saddened that my appreciation and love of architecture in general, and FLW's in particular, didn't appear until 40 years later. If I could I'd visit the FLW designed homes that are open to the public.

[not too impressed]

05:04 PM on 05/31/2012

But it looks so good ...