Stanford White, Architect

By the time of his death at fifty-three, Stanford White had transformed himself into the most celebrated architect in America. He was also one of its most prolific designers, a tastemaker of such stature that Harper’s Weekly declared he should be appointed Commissioner of Public Beauty. White’s passion for beauty was accompanied by an evolving taste. Early designs such as his collaboration on the Armory’s Veterans’ Room embraced the generous and inventive attributes of the Aesthetic Movement, while the work of his maturity reveals the same powerful imagination applied to a more traditional classical idiom. In spite of the diversity of architectural imagery in White’s portfolio, evidence of the hand and eye of the designer emerge with remarkable consistency, allowing us to develop a profile of the taste of Stanford White.

This lecture coincides with the publication of Stanford White, Architect (Rizzoli, 2008) by Samuel G. White and Elizabeth White. Their previous collaboration, McKim, Mead & White: The Masterworks, published in 2003, documents the institutional and commercial designs of America’s most famous architectural office. Mr. White’s first book, The Houses of McKim, Mead & White, is the definitive monograph of their residential commissions. As a practicing architect and a great-grandson of Stanford White, Sam White brings a unique perspective to his discussion of the work of that firm.