Working with Mr. Wright: what it was like

Working with Mr. Wright is a personal recollection by one of Frank Lloyd Wright's former apprentices of his years at the Taliesin Fellowship. Based on letters written by the author during his two stints at the Fellowship, from 1939 to 1955, Curtis Besinger provides a lively account of daily life in the community of architects established by Wright at its two locations, in Wisconsin and Arizona. Unlike standard architectural training, an apprenticeship with the fellowship entailed architectural tasks, such as drafting, designing, and overseeing projects, including the actual building of Taliesin West; as well as humbler assignments - from milking the cows to harvesting wheat - related to maintaining the farm that surrounded the Fellowship in Wisconsin. The social life of the Fellowship, which was filled with music and film, and planned in detail by Wright himself, is also recounted with wit and humor.

Through these engaging recollections, illustrated with photographs, plans, and drawings made during Besinger's years at the fellowship, the eccentric personality of Wright, his working practices, and his unique creative vision emerge, along with a host of personalities who were key to creating the unique character of the Taliesin experience.

Machine derived contents note: Preface -- Acknowledgments -- Foreword James F. O'Gorman -- Introduction -- 1. Summer 1939 -- visit to Taliesin -- 2. Fall 1939 -- 3. Construction of Mr. and Mrs. Wright's quarters -- 4. The Los Angeles trip -- 5. Migration to Wisconsin -- 1940 -- 6. Summer 1940 -- 7. Movies -- 8. Summer and fall 1940 -- work in the drafting room -- 9. The war in Europe -- 10. The exhibition at the Museum of Modern Art, New York -- 11. Winter in Arizona 1940-1941 -- 12. Spring 1941 -- 13. The fellowship and the draft -- 14. Spring, summer, early fall, 1941, in Kansas city -- 15. Winter 1941-1942, spring 1942 -- 16. Music -- 17. Spring and summer 1942 -- 18. Winter 1942-1943 -- 19. Spring and summer 1943 -- 20. Interlude 1943-1946 and 'work of national importance' -- 21. Summer 1946 -- 22. Winter 1946-1947 -- 23. Spring and summer 1947 -- 24. Winter 1947-1948 -- 25. Summer 1948 -- 26. Winter 1948-1949 -- 27. Summer 1949 -- 28. Winter 1949-1950 -- 29. Summer 1950 -- 30. Winter 1950-1951 -- 31. Summer 1951 -- Winter 1951-1952 -- 32. Summer 1952 -- 33. Winter 1952-1953 -- 34. Summer 1953 -- 35. Winter 1953-1954 -- 36. Summer 1954 -- 37. Winter 1954-1955 -- 38. Summer 195…