Page 13 - "he 2020 Guggenheim issue of World of Art Contemporary Art Magazine
P. 13

The Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum, New York, 1959
         Photo: Robert E. Mates © The Solomon R. Guggenheim Foundation, New York



                      I BELIEVE IN GOD, ONLY I SPELL IT NATURE.  Guggenheim Museum, it is thought that a nautilus shell
                                           Frank Lloyd Wright  inspired the spiral ramp and that the radial symmetry of a
                                                              spider web informed the design of the rotunda skylight.
                                                              Eric Lloyd Wright, Frank Lloyd Wright’s grandson, was one
                                                              of his grandfather’s apprentices during the 1940s and
         Nature, above all else, was Wright’s most inspirational   50s, when the Guggenheim Museum was designed. He
         force. He advised students to “study nature, love nature,   recalls, “…every Sunday at breakfast he’d give us a talk…
         stay close to nature. It will never fail you.” He did not   And sometimes he would have placed before him a whole
         suggest copying nature, but instead allowing it to be an   bunch of seashells. And he said, “Look here, fellows. This
         inspiration.                                         is what nature produces. These shells all are based on the
         Wright’s love and appreciation of nature began early in   same basic principles, but all of them are different, and
         his life while working summers on his uncle’s farm. The   they’re all created as a function of the interior use of that
         rigorous routine, home-grown food, milking cows, putting   shell.”
         up fences - all made a strong impression. In addition to   However, Wright believed that nature’s secrets could
         the exhilaration of honest outdoor work, he was also   only be discovered by diligent contemplation. Reality and
         learning to sense the deep mysteries of nature.      truth were not to be found on the surface of things, but
         Wright often brought aspects of nature into his buildings   required extensive probing and thought to yield valuable
         with his use of natural light, plants, and water. At the   lessons

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