Wright Auction

The Last of the Prairie Homes 

The Francis W. Little Home

From 1912 to 1914, Frank Lloyd Wright designed and built a summer home for Francis W. and Mary Little in Wayzata, Minnesota, a suburb of Minneapolis on Lake Minnetonka. Wright had previously built a home for them in Peoria, Illinois in 1903 and the Littles wanted him to create another home that was spacious, luxurious and celebrated the natural beauty of the landscape. The house turned out to be one of the last Prairie homes that Wright would build in the Midwest, and was one of the most expressive and exemplar of the style that he had pioneered.

As is typical of his buildings, the whole is contained within even the most minute details and elements. Wright's focus on visual harmony and spatial continuity is beautifully seen in the Little house; each side of the living room was composed of windows, letting in ample light and views of the lake, while also unifying the interior and the exterior as one organic space. This is emphasized by Wright's use of rich oak throughout the interior, its furnishings, and the doors seen here.

As is the case with many of Frank Lloyd Wright's greatest works, the Francis W. Little house was destroyed in 1972, with elements of the home going to the Allentown Art Museum, The Minneapolis Institute of the Arts, and, most notably, the living room was purchased by and re-installed at The Metropolitan Museum of Art. Below is a video tour of the room, as it is presented at the museum today.
 

Mark McDonald

The Founder of Mid-century Design

Mark McDonald has always been at the epicenter of the world that is mid-century design, to a large extent, it is a world he created. For over forty years, Mark has pioneered whole fields of collecting, providing the scholarship and creating the market for mid-century furniture, studio jewelry, ceramics and Italian glass.

In 1983, Mark opened Fifty/50 with partners Mark Isaacson and Ralph Cutler. This groundbreaking gallery defined collectors’ taste. At the time, modern works were still largely overlooked; Mark and his partners collected and presented the rarest and most interesting pieces, often working with the makers themselves, to create compelling exhibitions accompanied by catalogs documenting the work. 

In the 1990s, Mark opened Gansevoort Gallery, where he continued to curate collections and exhibitions of lasting impact. Over the years, he established relationships with artists and their estates becoming the go to authority on the designs of Art Smith, Ilonka Karasz and Leza McVey, among others. His enthusiasm for the material extended beyond the gallery floor to the back room where lucky visitors got to flip through Mark’s impressive design reference library and discuss the importance of works with him. 

A connoisseur and wealth of knowledge, Mark became a resource for prominent collections across the globe—private and public alike. He inspired a generation of collectors and dealers introducing designers and their production to an audience that continues to grow. In 2002, Mark closed Gansevoort and established 330 gallery in Hudson, New York. Now, semi-retired, Marks splits his time between New York and Florida. He still collects, curates, supports, and shepherds the scholarship of mid-century design.