Thawing Ice
Fritz Thaulow, Norwegian, (1847-1906), artist
Thawing Ice, c. 1889
Lithograph
19-3/4 x 27-1/2 in. (framed)
Gift of David and Gladys Wright, 1987.05.02
Photographer: Philip Mrozinski
Period photographs taken by Frank Lloyd Wright reveal that the architect had a lithographic copy of Thawing Ice by Norwegian artist Fritz Thaulow hanging in the original dining room of his Oak Park home. The original is a pastel on paper work which measures 21-7/8" x 37-3/8". The subject is a winter scene that Thaulow painted while living at a farm in Baerum, near Oslo, Norway in the spring of 1887.
Thaulow painted many versions of this scene during that spring and produced additional versions in the years following 1887. One such version was exhibited at the World's Columbian Exposition in Chicago in 1893. It seems that this subject became something of a signature work for Thaulow.
It may have been Wright's employment with the firm of Adler and Sullivan and their design of the Transportation Building (1891-1893) for the World's Columbian Exposition that brought him into contact with Thaulow's work.