The Idea of Louis Sullivan [Hardcover]

John Szarkowski (Author), Terence Riley (Contributor)

Book Description

Publication Date: September 1, 2000

Louis Sullivan (1856-1924) is one of America's most famous and influential architects -- an American Master in the words of John Szarkowski. In 1956, before Szarkowski gained fame as the Director of Photography at the Museum of Modern Art, he was the author/photographer of a book on Sullivan. Published by the University of Minnesota Press. The Idea of Louis Sullivan has long been out-of-print.

Bulfinch Press has decided to bring this classic book back in print. The photographs have been declared by no less an authority than Frank Lloyd Wright, a protege of Sullivan's, as the best ever taken of Sullivan's work. This edition, with a new, elegant design and duotone reproductions using today's print technology, promises to be a beautiful photography book and a much welcomed architectural book about this pivotal Chicago architect.

The text is composed of excerpts from contemporary sources, mostly from Louis Sullivan's own distinguished and charming commentaries on architecture and modern society, and a foreword by Szarkowski, as well as a preface to the new edition. Terence Riley will contribute an introduction on Sullivan's significance to modern architecture from today's perspective.

Editorial Reviews

About the Author

John Szarkowski is director emeritus of the Department of Photography, The Museum of Modern Art, New York. He is the author of many works on photography.
Terence Riley is Chief Curator of the Department of Architecture and Design at The Museum of Modern Art, New York. Riley wrote an introduction for Visions of Wright.

Product Details

• Hardcover: 184 pages
• Publisher: Bulfinch; New Edition edition (September 1, 2000)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0821226673
• ISBN-13: 978-0821226674
• Product Dimensions: 12.5 x 9.4 x 0.9 inches
• Shipping Weight: 4 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (2 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #244,452 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

John Szarkowski (December 18, 1925 - July 7, 2007) was a photographer, curator, historian, and critic. From 1962 to 1991 Szarkowski was the Director of Photography at New York's Museum of Modern Art.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars A visual treat and treatise on early 20th century architecture, July 12, 2008

By 

J Martin Jellinek (Memphis, TN United States) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: The Idea of Louis Sullivan (Hardcover)

The Idea of Louis Sullivan was first published in the 1950s and highlights the architecture of one of the mavericks of skyscraper architecture. The text gives a brief biography of Mr. Sullivan's life. The rest of the book consists of excerpts from various texts dealing with architecture and the challenges of leaving the mainstream. This text is interesting, but sometimes in is a bit too removed from the original text, leaving the reader trying to understand what the text is saying. However, the photography is amazing. The viewer is treated to crystal clear black and white photography which gives us insight into Sullivan's work. The pictures are both close ups and overviews. They show us the detailed work of an architect who understood that function really does determine the form of a building. He also understood that height is what makes skyscrapers special and emphasized this in strong vertical lines, as we can see from the more distant views. Sullivan fought the classical revival, which was all the rage of his times, and used a combination of heavy and solid Romanesque architecture with art nouveau decoration. The result is both stunning and unique.

This volumes makes a great coffee table book since it's considerable strength is visual.

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars The photographs are beautiful--but the essay is stunning, May 27, 2011

By 

Dennis Witmer (Fairbanks, AK USA) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)    (REAL NAME)   

This review is from: The Idea of Louis Sullivan (Hardcover)

The idea of Louis Sullivan--what's the idea? Sullivan invented the cliché "Form follows function", an idea that has changed the world--one he implemented into his beautiful architecture, as he used the new materials of steel and terra cotta to design the elegant buildings of the last few decades of the 19th century, especially in Chicago. However, when one of his buildings collapsed, so did his reputation, and he grew old in disgrace, designing small Midwestern banks while pursuing the avocation of alcoholism.

John Szarkowski, the greatest critic and writer that photography has ever known, photographed the work of Louis Sullivan while a young man, while on a Guggenheim Fellowship, which resulted in the publication of the first edition of this book in the 1950s. The first sentence of the preface to the new edition "Old men should not revise young men's work; they are sure to make a botch of it," introduces one of the most marvelous stories every told about the workings of the world of photography in the 20th century--a wonderful story of the old and the young--a must read for anyone hoping to understand how Szarkowski became himself.

The first edition of this book almost failed to be published, and the second edition remains virtually unknown--my first impression of the book was that it was a tribute to a great curator, a consolation prize for the years he spent in the collections of MOMA rather than on the streets as a photographer, making work--but the story he tells in the new preface is something more--the passing of blessings from the old to the young--and the glory of the young finding their power.