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Coonley Playhouse Window or Kindersymphony
Coonley Playhouse Window or Kindersymphony

Coonley Playhouse Window or Kindersymphony

Object NameWindow for the Avery Coonley Playhouse, Coonley Residence, Riverside, Illinois
Maker Frank Lloyd Wright (American, 1867-1959)
Maker Linden Glass Company
Made FromWhite glass, zinc came
Dateabout 1912
Techniquecut glass assembled with zinc came
SizeFrame H: 175.7 cm, W: 51 cm; Glass/Frame Inside H: 154.8 cm, W: 31.7 cm
Accession Number93.4.17
Credit LineClara S. Peck Endowment Fund
Curatorial Area(s)
Exhibitions
Frank Lloyd Wright: Preserving an Architectural Heritage, Decorative Designs from the Domino's Pizza Collection
Frank Lloyd Wright: A Modern Aesthetic
Interpretive Notes
In 1911, the architect Frank Lloyd Wright was commissioned by the Avery Coonley family to design a building to be used as a kindergarten for the Coonley children. The finished structure came to be known as the “Playhouse” because it contained a stage for theatrical performances. The Avery Coonley Playhouse was part of the Coonley residence, a compound of buildings that included a main house (completed in 1909) and a coach house designed by Wright. The most remarkable feature of the Avery Coonley Playhouse was its windows, abstract compositions that were executed in a technique unlike any of Wright’s previous designs. The colored areas of the windows are composed of white glass that was flashed with a thin layer of colored glass. While the primary colors are visible from the inside, only white is visible from the outside, in keeping with the subdued color scheme of the building’s exterior. Wright once said that these windows were inspired by parades, and indeed, images of balloons, confetti, and waving flags come to mind. The windows were removed during the renovation of the Playhouse in 1967.
Place Made
United States; probably Germany
Physical DescriptionColorless, translucent white, transparent red, blue, yellow, and black probably non-lead glasses, zinc came, painted wood frame (probably oak) is not original; cut glass assembled with zinc came. Tall narrow rectangular window of cut and assembled glass; colorless background decorated with asymmetrical geometric decoration of long interlocking horizontal and vertical bands formed by came, design is activated by "checkerboard", circles and a small flag in primary colors (white glass flashed with color); straight vertical and horizontal came sections break the panel into a grid with most of the divisions occurring in upper third of panel, "background" pattern of fifteen small red squares, five black and one white (upper edge, right) punctuated by 1/2 of red sphere on left edge butted into upper left corner, small full blue circle placed lower and at right, large full yellow circle lower and towards the middle and 1/4 of largest circle (white) filling lower left corner flanked by one small red square; approximately 1/4 distance from base is small rectangular American flag with no stars and came taking the place of white stripes; wooden frame painted dark gray; unsigned.
Provenance
Provenance information not currently available online. Please check back in the coming weeks.