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

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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