The Museum of Wisconsin Art has launched a comprehensive exhibition titled "Frank Lloyd Wright: Modern Chair Design," featuring more than thirty chairs designed by the legendary American architect. The exhibition, which runs from October 4, 2025, to January 26, 2026, highlights an often-overlooked aspect of Wright's practice while presenting both historical pieces and carefully crafted recreations made specifically for the show.

The exhibition spans Wright's career from the 1900s to the late 1950s, tracing the evolution and consistent themes in his design philosophy throughout the 20th century. Curators have included both original historical pieces created during Wright's lifetime and reproductions of designs that were never brought to reality during his era. Among these are chairs originally designed for Wright's AD German Warehouse building and the iconic Guggenheim Museum in New York.

"Wright's chairs offer a fascinating lens into both his evolving design philosophy and the changing nature of American domestic life," explained Thomas Szolwinski, curator of architecture and design for the Museum of Wisconsin Art. "Early in his career, his furniture reflected the Arts and Crafts ideal – solid, handcrafted, and designed for large, often luxurious homes."

Szolwinski further elaborated on Wright's design evolution, noting how "as his work progressed through the Taliesin and Usonian periods, his designs became lighter, more modular, and more attuned to the realities of modern living. He favored efficiency, flexibility, and new materials like plywood, aligning with broader cultural shifts toward informality and efficiency in the American home."

The curatorial team, led by Szolwinski and co-curator Eric Vogel, spent years researching in archives to understand the trajectory of Wright's chair designs and their relationship to his architectural work. They collaborated with skilled woodworkers, including S Lloyd Natof, Wright's great-grandson, to recreate lost pieces based on historical images and documentation. Twelve chairs were specifically recreated for this exhibition, including an armchair originally designed for the James Kibben Ingalls House in River Forest, Illinois, and a café table designed for the Guggenheim Museum.

"Created in partnership with the Frank Lloyd Wright Foundation and the Taliesin Institute, these newly fabricated works are shown alongside thirty historic pieces to present a more complete view of Wright's design trajectory," Szolwinski stated. "The project treats fabrication not as replication, but as a form of research – an active investigation into Wright's process, philosophy, and evolving material language."

The exhibition is organized chronologically, with contextual information explaining the origin and significance of each design. Notable pieces include the cane-paneled armchair created for the Emil Bach House in Chicago and the distinctive Origami armchairs designed for Wright's studio at Taliesin West in Scottsdale, Arizona. The chronological arrangement allows visitors to observe the progression of Wright's design thinking and material choices across different periods of his career.

Wright's furniture designs continue to influence contemporary designers and manufacturers. Commercial furniture company Steelcase has produced recreations of Wright's designs for modern use, while the Frank Lloyd Wright Foundation has collaborated with contemporary brands to incorporate Wright's design motifs into modern products. This includes a recent collaboration with New Balance and Kith that produced sneakers using colors from Wright's personal palette, demonstrating the enduring relevance of his aesthetic vision in today's design landscape.