LOT DETAILS

Materials:

Ink and graphite on tracing paper

Size Notes:

(sheet, largest)

Condition:

Pinholes to the corners; very mild time staining to the extreme edges; moderate handling creases through out each sheet; mild to moderate folding creases; loss to the upper edge of the far right tree; three small losses near the upper left quadrant. Each sheet is loose

Provenance:

Property from the Collection of the Architect W. Kelly Oliver The Kalita Humphreys Theater was commissioned in 1954 by the Dallas Theater Center and completed in 1959. It would become Dallas's first repertory theater, as well as the first and only theater design of Frank Lloyd Wright's to be constructed throughout his career. In his youth, Wright had wanted to be an actor. Although his life followed a different path, his love for the dramatic arts never ceased, and constructing a theater was the one undertaking he wanted to accomplish in his lifetime. The Kalita Humphreys Theater typifies Wright's later work, conveying organic fluidity by eliminating right angles. Instead of designing the structure along a square grid, as may be expected, it was planned along a diamond grid, which results in an abstracted version of the long, stretched profiles for which he became famous. The use of concentric circles and ramps throughout recall his design for the Guggenheim Museum, also completed in 1959. Along the ceiling, these circles house the lighting and draw the eye from the perimeter of the space to the focal point - the revolving stage. While Wright's drawing practice would often include figures interacting with the space, these drawings exhibit his lifelong fascination with the theater, with a rare glimpse at his imagined mis-en-scène, demonstrating his regard for Japanese theatrical traditions. The costuming, blocking, and set design depicted expose an unexpected mastery of stagecraft in addition to his other known talents. This is an intimate, avant garde space and although Wright did not live long enough to see it completed, it persists as a Dallas landmark and a testament to his passion. These drawings are from the collection of architect Wi