Customer Reviews

Julia Morgan: Architect of Beauty

5 star:		(8)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(0)
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1 star:		(1)

 

 

I recently purchased this book....and I'm so very glad I did. I have always been a great admirer of Julia Morgan's work and this book more than satisfies my interests. There are 350 amazing color photos! It is the most comprehensive arrangement and collection of photography I've every seen on this subject. As a professional artist, I own many books on art and architecture, this so far, is my favorite work on the subject of Art. Not only is it a pleasure to look at, but the writing is colorful and holds my interest. So many times I've bought an art book and only have enjoyed the images; this is not the case. This book is a joy to read, the quality is of a high scholar with a passion for the subject...this makes the difference. The passion truly comes through in every line. I have learned so much about a amazingly talented woman. What is unique about this book is the author has collaborated with Julia Morgan's god-daughter who is the the grand-daughter of Ms. Morgan's personal secretary. The book contains information other books just couldn't. The book is a great honor to a professional, who designed over 700 buildings. Every library should contain this book, not just for the pleasure of viewing, but for the superb historical referencing as well. It is my hope that this author continues his writing. It would be a great service to us all, who wish to learn through quality sources.

Sonoma Ca.

The author shows great passion for this subject. I found the book to be well researched and fascinating reading. This is a highly readable account of this talented woman's life and work.

This book is an exceptional coffee table book for oneself or as a gift. It is one of the most comprehensive books I have seen on Julia Morgan and her architecture with a wonderful compilation of photos.

This is a great addition to the Julia Morgan literature. A lovely intro by her god-daughter gives some new biographical information, and there are more pictures and discussion of her private home commissions than in any of the other books I have.

I have both this book and Sara Boutelle's "Julia Morgan, architect" ISBN 0-7892-0019-8. I give a slight edge to the Boutelle book for the writing, but both books are excellent and each provides information, images, and insight not in the other. For example, this book shows in detail what a superb engineer Julia Morgan was, which is not something I had gotten from any other source. A must have.

Much new primary source material. Stunning photography and much more. Something for the scholar, the architect, the homeowner, the dreamer...and anyone who craves beauty.

Pay no attention to Arthur's comments. If you let his review get in the way, you'll be missing out on the most impressive Julia Morgan book yet. It is astonishing how far from the truth Arthur's words are. His redundant, malicious tone and false accusations are completely unnecessary, distasteful, and moreover sound like an oversized child with an annoyingly extensive use of vocabulary complaining to his mother. Any other rational and educated scholar would be able to see the same tremendous beauty and literary intellect that I see throughout the pages of Wilson's work.
Perhaps Arthur missed the book's introduction when he ignorantly criticized the author of "paucity of intellectual curiosity" and having "non-existent research." The research for all the Julia Morgan buildings included in the book was carefully done from her original office records, which, as mentioned in the introduction, the author was the first to have access to (as anyone who looks at the footnotes can tell). This book corrected several errors about Julia Morgan in previous books, for example proving she never destroyed any of her drawings or blueprints, confirming she was not the first woman to get an engineering degree from UC Berkeley, as well as locating several Julia Morgan buildings that were wrongly listed in Sara Boutelle's book as "not clearly documented" or "demolished." With utmost respect and professionalism, Wilson makes these corrections without a word of criticism. I was also pleasantly surprised to find dozens of buildings by Morgan that have never been in any other book, such as her brilliantly elegant homes in Northern California's Sonoma County.
If my opinion isn't convincing enough, a reviewer from the highly esteemed Architectural Record magazine described Wilson's book as "a laudable guide to the pleasures of Julia Morgan's architecture."

While this is clearly a comprehensive book at JM's work and the photographs are exquisite, the prose could have used a bit more editing.
For example, the introduction, written by JM's niece is a stream of consciousness of memories vs. a more concise piece on Julia Morgan's relationship with the goddaughter and the mother (who was Julia's assistant).

This is a remarkably well -researched book. Perhaps even more importantly, it is highly readable - a feast to the senses. Mr. Wilson guides us through the career and life of a peerless pioneer of women in architecture. One gets a real sense of the times, as well as a true picture of this shy, retiring genius who brilliaantly faced such daunting barricades of prejudice.

The forward by Lynn Forney McMurray, Julia Morgan's godchild, is an unprecedented gift to the reader. She, Ms. McMurray, also supplied actual blueprints of Morgan's work, an added bonus of authenticity as well as interest.

The photography by Lee, Puliatti and Wilson is also outstanding. One gets a sense of actually being on site, since the quality is amazing and the examples are plenteous.

I highly recommend this book for its readability, authenticiy and beauty.

Like so many of the old pulp paperbacks of the fifties, the cover is the best feature of this book.
The author makes many claims of authority as an architectural historian, but his slovenly, muddled, and at times non-existent research indicates an inclination toward organizational laziness, a shoddy sense of architectural history, and a paucity of intellectual curiosity. This monograph is loaded with grievous errors and extremely faulty judgements.
William Morris, one of the most monumentally influential figures on the arts, architecture, and decorative arts in the 19th and 20th century, is reduced to being "an interior designer and furniture maker". The writing of Ruskin, Pugin, and Viollet-le-Duc provided much of the framework for the Arts & Crafts movement and is also of vital importance. Their concept of structural rationalism and expressive integrity in the use of materials lies at the center of the Gothic Revival movement and was a major influence on Richardson, Furness, Sullivan, Wright, Maybeck, Morgan, et al. They are never mentioned.
To give a few specific examples of the shabby scholarship at the heart of this book, Wilson states that Bernard Maybeck wrote a foreword for Charles Keeler's very well known SIMPLE HOME, which stands as essential reading for anyone that wants to come to grips with the Bay Area A&C movement. While the THE SIMPLE HOME is dedicated to Maybeck, there is no foreword by him. Further, Wilson seems to have confused Keeler's treatise with the content of HILLSIDE BUILDING, a brochure published by the Hillside Club in 1906 and probably written by Maybeck. Four points that Wilson attributes Keeler's book are actually a summation of the HILLSIDE BUILDING essay.
The author completely misses the intramural political maneuvering that led to Julia Morgan being brought in on the design for the Hearst Memorial Gymnasium, even though there is carefully researched material on their collaboration.
He erroneously states that Bernard and Annie Maybeck lived on site for two years while Maybeck designed Principia College in Illinois, and that "several dozen of his designs were built." Instead, there are eleven remaining Maybeck buildings on this National Landmark campus. Two temporary buildings were torn down. Also, Maybeck accepted the commission in 1923, which is seven years earlier than the date given by Wilson. Most of the design work was done in California. Had Wilson bothered to check the very fine Principia College website he could have avoided these glaring mistakes.
It is clear that Wilson is not familiar with BUILDING FOR HEARST AND MORGAN: VOICES FROM THE GEORGE LOORZ PAPERS, a book that is a gold mine of information on Morgan's career, and one that could have assisted him in correcting more of his blunders.
One could go on and on. From beginning to end, this ill-informed monograph is repeatedly undermined by the ineptness, pretentiousness, and graceless writing of the author. As a result, a true sense of Julia Morgan's work and the significance of her contribution to American architecture is grievously diminished.
To obtain a solid appreciation of Morgan's architecture one should avoid this book and instead purchase the insightful and carefully researched JULIA MORGAN: ARCHITECT and HEARST CASTLE: THE BIOGRAPHY OF A COUNTRY HOUSE. Another major bonus, the architectural photography in both of these earlier books is superb.