Frank Lloyd Wright
In 1930 Charlotte Partridge invited the internationally known Wisconsin architect Frank Lloyd Wright to exhibit his work at the Layton Art Gallery. Surprisingly, this was met with some resistance from certain people within the Milwaukee community who did not support Modern architecture. Adding to their complaint was the fact that Wright had publically decried the city’s new neoclassical courthouse, “It will take Milwaukee fully a century to recover from the influence of these buildings.”
Nevertheless, Partridge succeeded in opening the retrospective exhibition, which featured many of Wright’s designs from 1890 to 1930, including those for the Imperial Hotel Tokyo.
Sparked by the controversy, the Wright exhibition drew twelve hundred visitors to the Layton Art Gallery in just three days, breaking all attendance records. The exhibition itself created even more drama. On the day that he was scheduled to lecture, Wright was arrested over financial troubles. He was released in time to have dinner with Partridge and to present on his designs and the benefits of building Modern architecture in Milwaukee.
Once the lecture was over, Partridge promptly paid Wright and he immediately left town. Shortly thereafter, the police stopped by the gallery to garner Wright’s lecture fee, at which point Partridge accurately informed them that she no longer owed Wright any money.