Frank Lloyd Wright

Charlotte von Hardenburgh

During Dorothy Liebes’s prolific forty-year career, she collaborated with numerous distinguished architects of the era, and perhaps her most celebrated association was with Frank Lloyd Wright (American, 1867–1959). [1] Liebes speaks of their first encounter—which occurred in about 1935—in her unpublished memoir, recalling that she “went into complete panic” after receiving a phone call from her close friend, the architect Timothy Pflueger (American, 1892–1946), who stated that he was bringing Mr. Wright to the studio. [2] Convinced that Wright “would absolutely hate the vivid colors and the extensive use of metal in my fabrics,” Liebes rushed out of the studio to wait in a nearby hotel. [3] A while later, Liebes’s studio employee Ruth MacKinlay phoned her at the hotel, exclaiming, “You’d better come down here at once. He’s ordering everything in the place.” [4] Still in shock and disbelief, Liebes waited to send the selection of textiles Wright had ordered. Her memoir states, “Two weeks later a curt telegram came, saying, ‘Where are fabrics? Ship without further delay. Advise, FLW.’” [5] Liebes’s glimmering textiles—particularly her use of copper—captivated Wright, and with his recognition, orders began to flood into her small studio space, forcing Liebes and her newly acquired looms to move into an abandoned ballroom at 545 Sutter Street to accommodate the increased demand. [6,7]  

This encounter marked the beginning of a lifelong friendship and professional working relationship between the architect and the weaver (Fig 1). Liebes visited Taliesin East in Spring Glen, Wisconsin, with architect Samuel A. Marx (American, 1885–1964), likely when she was in Chicago for her retrospective at the Chicago Arts Club in 1938. [8] The following year, Liebes studied architecture and taught weaving and textile design at Frank Lloyd Wright’s Taliesin West in Scottsdale, Arizona, and made custom textiles for the space (Figs. 2, 3). During this time, Liebes also developed a close friendship with Wright’s wife, Olgivanna. In 1946, when Olgivanna’s daughter Svetlana was killed in a car crash, Wright requested that Liebes “get a loom and fly out here” [9] to distract his wife by teaching her to weave. Liebes often considered her craft a form of therapy and willingly obliged, packing up a small loom and “lots of yarn” [10] in hopes of soothing Olgivanna’s sorrows. In the notes of her unpublished memoir, Liebes states that she got to know both Wright and Olgivanna rather intimately during this trip and that she would often travel back to visit them in Arizona (Fig. 4). She later notes that the famed architect claimed that a small cottage on the Taliesin property was exclusively for her use. [11] 

Wright selected Liebes textiles for a number of his interiors, including a beach house for Della Walker in Carmel, California (known as the Mrs. Clinton Walker House) (Fig. 5). Completed in 1948, the small home’s expansive windows showcase unobstructed views of Carmel Bay and the Pacific Ocean. An undated photograph of the living room, taken shortly after the house was built, features a reed blind and pillows designed by Liebes. The loosely distributed reeds that are bound with cream-colored and gold threads allow dappled sunlight to shimmer upon the assortment of Liebes pillows lining the built-in sofa. This commission highlights Liebes’s consideration of natural light within constructed environments. Her blind blocks harsh sunlight but allows ample light to trickle into the room, creating an effect like that of sunlight filtering through the leaves and branches of the potted plants along the sill, thereby visually connecting the outside world with the built interior. [12]  

The two also collaborated in 1950 when Liebes designed drapery and upholstery fabrics for the Frieda and Henry J. Neils residence in Minneapolis, Minnesota (Fig. 6). [13] They partnered again in 1953 when Liebes designed both handwoven and power-loomed fabrics for Wright’s Model Usonian House & Pavilion exhibition, which was presented on the future site of the Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum in New York City (Fig 7). Wright’s own line of textiles for F. Schumacher and Co., produced in 1955, included a textured weave incorporating metallic Lurex threads, undoubtedly inspired by Liebes. [14] In the notes of her unpublished memoir, Liebes reflects on Wright, commenting, “I admire his taste, and admire his sense of color and I admire his rippling conversation.” [15] There was a sense of mutual respect and camaraderie coupled with a deep appreciation for each other’s design ideas that made Dorothy Liebes and Frank Lloyd Wright a powerful pairing within American Modernism.
 

NOTES 

[1] John Stuart Gordon, “Curtain Walls,” in A Dark, A Light, A Bright: The Designs of Dorothy Liebes, eds. Susan Brown and Alexa Griffith Winton (New York: Cooper Hewitt, Smithsonian Design Museum; New Haven, CT: Yale University Press, 2023), 31. 

[2] Liebes, autobiography (unpublished ms.), 197. Series 4, Box 4, Folder 9, Dorothy Liebes Papers, Archives of American Art, Smithsonian Institution. 

[3] Ibid. 

[4] Ibid., 198. 

[5] Ibid., 199. 

[6] Liebes, outlines and notes (ms.), 34. Series 4, Box 4, Folder 16, Dorothy Liebes Papers. 

[7] Liebes, autobiography (ms.), 200. Series 4, Box 4, Folder 9, Dorothy Liebes Papers. 

[8] Susan Brown and Alexa Griffith Winton, “Chronology,” in A Dark, A Light, A Bright: The Designs of Dorothy Liebes, eds. Susan Brown and Alexa Griffith Winton (New York: Cooper Hewitt, Smithsonian Design Museum; New Haven, CT: Yale University Press, 2023), 228. 

[9] Liebes, outlines and notes (ms.), 37. Series 4, Box 4, Folder 16, Dorothy Liebes Papers. 

[10] Ibid. 

[11] Ibid. 

[12] Alexa Griffith Winton, “Vibrance and Luminosity: Textiles Designed for Light,” in A Dark, A Light, A Bright: The Designs of Dorothy Liebes, eds. Susan Brown and Alexa Griffith Winton (New York: Cooper Hewitt, Smithsonian Design Museum; New Haven, CT: Yale University Press, 2023), 70. 

[13] Some textiles from the Frieda and Henry J. Neils residence are at the Minneapolis Institute of Art. 

[14] Gordon, “Curtain Walls,” 32. 

[15] Liebes, outlines and notes (ms.), 39. Series 4, Box 4, Folder 16, Dorothy Liebes Papers.

 

black and white image of an older white man with white hair. he is wearing a suit and his arms are outstretched

Fig. 1 Image of Frank Lloyd Wright at Taliesin West, 1947, Dorothy Liebes Papers, Archives of American Art, Smithsonian Institution

a color photograph of two women. the one on the right is standing displaying a textile by draping it over her arm and the woman on the left is seated and looking at the textile on display.

Fig. 2 Liebes showing a textile to Olgivanna Lloyd Wright at Taliesin West, © Frank Lloyd Wright Foundation. All Rights Reserved. Licensed by Artists Rights Society.

Fig. 3 Liebes demonstrating to members of the Fellowship at Taliesin West, n.d.; Frank Lloyd Wright Foundation © Frank Lloyd Wright Foundation. All Rights Reserved. Licensed by Artists Rights Society.

three snapshots that have been yellow by time. the images show a woman sitting at a loom and lounging in the desert

Fig. 4 Various images of Dorothy Liebes at Taliesin West, circa 1947; Dorothy Liebes Papers, Archives of American Art, Smithsonian Institution

color photograph of a living room with a couch against a wall of windows. the windows have semi transparent blinds and the couch has sparkling blue and orange pillows

Fig. 5 Fig. 5 Living room of Mrs. Clinton Walker House, Carmel, California, 1951; Architect: Frank Lloyd Wright (American, 1867–1959); Window blind designed by Dorothy Liebes; Photograph by Mark Mills (American, 1921–2007); Mark Mills Papers, Special Collections and Archives, California Polytechnic State University, San Luis Obispo

color photograph of a living room with high ceilings. there is a couch and several chairs in this room. the chairs are upholstered with glimmering textiles

Fig. 6 Frieda and Henry J. Neils House, Minneapolis, Minnesota, 1950; Architect: Frank Lloyd Wright (American, 1867–1959); Drapes and upholstery designed by Dorothy Liebes; From “Frank Lloyd Wright’s Contribution to the Beauty of American Life,” House Beautiful, November 1955

Fig. 5 Black-and-white photograph of a living/dining room with furniture and floor pillows around a stone fireplace.

Fig. 7 Frank Lloyd Wright’s Usonian Exhibition House, New York City, 1953; ESTO

Charlotte von Hardenburgh

Charlotte von Hardenburgh is the American Women’s History Initiative Research Fellow at Cooper Hewitt, Smithsonian Design Museum. Her research contributes to the exhibition and publication A Dark, A Light, A Bright: The Designs of Dorothy Liebes. In addition to conducting her research and curatorial work, von Hardenburgh teaches undergraduate courses at Parsons School of Design focused on modern design history and typography. She is currently based in New York City.