Solomon Guggenheim at Taliesin
Photo of Wright and apprentices in the Taliesin Fellowship at Hillside with the model of the Guggenheim Museum.
A couple of weeks ago I met with a Taliesin tour guide regarding details about the 1914 murders there.
He wanted to meet because he was going to miss my presentation on the Myths of the 1914 Fire and Murders at a nearby library.
I’ve been trying to publish the article I wrote on this for a while, but haven’t had any takers. HOWEVER, I’ve gotten great responses about my presentation of “the Myths” at Wisconsin libraries.
Although, gorram it! I WILL get my article published some day!…
I wonder if they’ll print it in my obituary??
While speaking, the tour guide said the tour manager at Taliesin Preservation informed the guides that there’s no proof that Solomon Guggenheim ever came to Taliesin.
He did! So that’s what I’ll talk about in this post.
Why do tours care?
Aside from the fact that tour guides should love absolutely everything about Frank Lloyd Wright and his career,
I’m only partially being snarky there
Taliesin and Guggenheim are linked SPECIFICALLY to Taliesin’s history.
That’s because of what former apprentice Curtis Besinger published his book, Working With Mr. Wright in 1995.
In the “Spring and Summer 1943” chapter, he detailed changes made in anticipation of Guggenheim’s visit.
Here’s part of what he wrote how Wright began
a process that later… turned into preparation for an anticipated visit by Solomon Guggenheim and the Baroness Hilla von Rebay…. Preparation for any occasion always seemed to require, as a renewal, some architectural changes. Sometimes these were minor. But the prospect of a major architectural commission was a reason for major changes….
Curtis Besinger. Working with Mr. Wright: What It Was Like (Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, England, 1995), p. 146.
And then Wright
decided to remodel the two small rooms and bath on the mezzanine of the house, Iovanna’s rooms, into a suite in which Hilla Rebay would stay during her visit. Mr. Guggenheim was to stay in the main guest room, next to the living room.
Working With Mr. Wright, 148.
Read some of my findings about these spaces in this post.
We were all really excited to read that when the book came out.
But
while I worked there, I couldn’t find solid proof that Guggenheim really visited.
Apparently I wasn’t alone, since the tour manager thought she should tell the guides to pull back on saying Guggenheim actually came to Taliesin since it couldn’t be proven.
Great idea!
That cuts down on the chances that the guides will devolve like the character that British actress Maggie Smith portrayed in the stage comedy, Lettice and Lovage
This was a Tony-winning play in which Smith’s character “enhanced” the stories on a tour through Fustian House
watch this YouTube clip if you’ve got 20-or-so minutes:
However, when talking to Bill (the guide), I realized that I now HAD information that would give the answer.
Because,
a couple of years ago I was given access to copies of letters that Wright’s secretary Gene Masselink wrote to Fellowship member John H. “Jack” Howe while he was in prison for being a WW2 conscientious objector.
The letters Gene wrote to Jack show a more private side to the guy.
I mean:
Among other things, he was a little b*tchy and wrote gossipy things about other Fellowship members…. Basically, things appear in those letters that I’m not crazy about.
For example, the guy mentioned women’s attractiveness (or NOT) a bit too much.
But here’s the good news:
While they didn’t come in 1943, Guggenheim and Rebay did make it in September or early October, 1945.1
I won’t quote from it extensively,2
But Gene writes that after spending a week getting everything at Taliesin spick and span, “honest-to-goodness fall-housecleaning” and using 10 gallons of wax, while continuously chasing spider webs
having cleaning at Hillside and Taliesin during houseopening I can confirm Gene’s observation: spiders at Taliesin are really busy
the day came and they put on the best show they could even though it rained all day.
And then they all had dinner in Taliesin’s living room, with an invited cellist to play music
(her name was Margaret Jean Cree and I couldn’t find info on her in a quick Google search)
and Gene wrote that Solomon Guggenheim was such a fan of her work that he “rose to his feet and shouted ‘BRAVO’ each time….”
So it really did happen! Phew!
Originally published September 4, 2025.
Volkmar K. Wentzel took the photo at the top of this post. Property: National Geographic/Getty Images. Image ID: 82184430. The photo shows Frank Lloyd Wright and apprentices in the room at Hillside known as the Roberts Room. Roberts was former client Charles E. Roberts. He loaned Wright’s aunts money to build this classroom space during construction for their Hillside Home School (I wrote more about them and the school, here).
Note:
- He didn’t date the letter, but it follows one he wrote after mid-September.
- I’m not quoting from the letter because I don’t know how much I can. That’s because I’m not sure who really has the rights to them: the Frank Lloyd Wright Foundation Archives? The Northwest Architectural Archives, with the John Howe papers?
