FRANK LLOYD WRIGHT. An Oak Reclining Armchair, designed for the William E. Martin House, Oak Park, Illinois, circa 1902. 28 ...

Description

FRANK LLOYD WRIGHT
An Oak Reclining Armchair, designed for the William E. Martin House, Oak Park, Illinois, circa 1902
28 x 29 x 33 inches (71.1 x 73.7 x 83.8 cm)

PROVENANCE:
Barbra Streisand Collection.

Frank Lloyd Wright created this chair for the house he designed in 1902 in Oak Park, Illinois, for William E. Martin, co-owner with his brother, Darwin, of the E-Z Polish Company. The intriguing, successful design of Martin's house brought Wright eight other major commissions, including one for the Martin brothers' own E-Z Polish factory. Darwin Martin was employed by the Larkin Company in Buffalo, New York, and he convinced the company to have Wright design their new administration building. Darwin also commissioned Wright to build his home with a gardener's cottage in Buffalo, New York, and his summer residence in Derby, New York. In Buffalo, Wright additionally completed homes for George Barton, Darwin's brother-in-law, and for W.R. Heath and for Alexander Davidson, both Larkin Company employees.

It was in the Chicago suburb of Oak Park, where William Martin lived and used this chair, that Wright developed and perfected his signature "Prairie style," the basis of 20th-century residential design in the United States. Wright's Prairie style featured structures with low-lying exteriors and open, light-filled interiors, where the manmade was meant to resonate with the surrounding natural environment.

Understanding Wright's philosophy concerning the relationship between architecture and interior design is especially essential for appreciating this chair. According to Wright, a home's materials, windows, lighting, furniture, and exterior setting, as much as its architectural framework, equally contributed to the overall design concept and the ultimate success of the commission. In fact, Wright believed that the home, in its entirety, had the power to "shape" its residents.



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