| In the last few years scores of books and articles have perhaps as much as doubled the Frank Lloyd Wright bibliography; moreover, important museum exhibitions have attempted to define his body of work, partially as well as totally; yet, his persona and work remain elusive. A forum for different views and interpretations of Wright's work (as well as that of his circle and contemporaries) is therefore timely, and that is a need Wright Studies wishes to fill. |
| It is indeed a pleasure to inaugurate the series with an issue devoted to Taliesin I. Designed and constructed in 1911 upon Wright's return from his European sojourn, Taliesin I had a very short life, as it burned down in August 1914. Because it lasted for less than three years, Taliesin I is perhaps the most elusive of the houses Wright built for himself. At the same time, it is one of the most interesting iconographically. All the contributors to this issue agree that Taliesin I was, in fact, Wright's architectural self-portrait, as well as an expression of his aspirations for a life that he would dedicate to art in the company of Mamah Cheney. The five papers complement each other. Neil Levine offers a view of the different layers of meaning of Taliesin I; Scott Gartner explains the legend of the Welsh bard Taliesin and its signification for Wright; Anthony Alofsin considers the influence of the playwright Richard Hovey and the feminist Ellen Key in Wright's and Cheney's thought of the period (as part of the intellectual background of Taliesin); and in my article I suggest that the Gilmore and O'Shea houses in Madison, Wisconsin, are a collective antecedent to Taliesin I. I also consider Flower in the Crannied Wall, the statue by Richard Bock that Wright used in the Dana house and the garden of Taliesin, in its relation to Wright's concept of architecture and, consequently, Taliesin. Finally, Alofsin, in a second article, establishes a catalogue raisonn of the drawings and photographs of Taliesin I. Surprisingly, he finds no photographs of the living area, and argues that those that have been published are in fact of Taliesin II. He also sets the record straight concerning important aspects of design of the drafting room and of the different conceptions Wright had of Taliesin shortly after the fire. |
| As editor, I am particularly gratified to point out that while these five articles agree on the importance and general meaning of Taliesin, they by no means create a unified view. One contributor, for instance, dismisses the importance of Richard Hovey in shaping Wright's mind concerning the bard Taliesin; another sees Hovey as a central influence. |
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