Walter Burley Griffin (American, 1876-1937)
Marion Mahony Griffin (American, 1871-1961)
Ascot Theater, Melbourne, Australia, Perspective
INV-1866
Walter Burley Griffin (American, 1876-1937)
Marion Mahony Griffin (American, 1871-1961)1923
Ascot Theater, Melbourne, Australia, Perspective
Walter Burley Griffin (American, 1876-1937) Marion Mahony Griffin (American, 1871-1961) →presentation drawingarchitectural drawing
Date
1923
Medium
Ink on linen
Dimensions
58.6 × 79.2 cm (23 1/16 × 31 3/16 in.)
Museum
Art Institute of Chicago
Location
Chicago, IL
Credit
Gift of Marion Mahony Griffin through Eric Nicholls
As American expatriates in Australia, Walter Burley Griffin and Marion Mahony Griffin transformed their Prairie School training in the studio of Frank Lloyd Wright into a highly imaginative, new local idiom. While building on their Chicago roots, the Griffins’ work in Australia took on elaborate geometries, reflecting a large range of influences from Gothic architecture to ancient Mayan temples. Nevertheless, it is also possible to understand their work as a contribution to the international Art Deco movement during this period. Like their realized Capital Theatre in Melbourne, Australia, the Griffins’ Ascot Theater project includes dramatic lines and crystalline molding surmounting the entrances. This drawing is one of many of the highly skilled architectural renderings by Marion Mahony Griffin given to the Art Institute after she returned to the United States following her husband’s death in 1937, enriching the museum’s strong holdings related to the Prairie School.
Also notable
Works in the same vein
Soldiers' Club, Toowoomba, Australia, Perspective
Walter Burley Griffin (American, 1876-1937) Marion Mahony Griffin (American, 1871-1961)
Shop Bungalow, Castlecrag, Australia, Multiple Views
Walter Burley Griffin (American, 1876–1937) Marion Mahony Griffin (American, 1871–1961) Louise Lightfoot (Australian, 1902–1979)
