Forging Ahead 2: Buffalo Culture

The Albright-Knox Art Gallery in Buffalo is older than Canada itself

John Rennison The Hamilton Spectator
4/7/15

Buffalo’s arts and culture scene

Buffalo has always had a strong arts and culture scene.

Besides Chicago, it’s the only American city that boasts examples of work by acclaimed architects Frank Lloyd Wright, Louis Sullivan and Henry Hobson Richardson.

Frank Wright's Darwin Martin house John Rennison The Hamilton Spectator 4/8/15

Frank Lloyd Wright’s Darwin Martin house.  John Rennison, Hamilton Spectator

Groups of 20 will stand around in cold April drizzle to see Wright’s Darwin Martin house, now a national historic landmark.

 

Sullivan is considered the father of skyscrapers and downtown Buffalo’s Guaranty building is a prime example of his style.

Strong vertical design contrasts the horizontal “layer-cake” construction of other downtown buildings. The effect draws the eye up to elaborately ornamented cornices.

The Richardson Olmsted Complex, begun in 1872, looks like something out of a comic book. Originally built as an asylum, the sprawling building has turreted windows, steeply-pitched roofs and caged-in balconies.

Olmsted Complex, begun in 1872, was originally an asylum. John Rennison, Hamilton Spectator

Today the complex is being adapted for use as a hotel and conference centre and an architecture centre. There will also be space on the 203-acre site for the Buffalo Psychiatric Centre and the Burchfield Penney Art Center.

The Albright-Knox Art Gallery in Buffalo is older than Canada itself John Rennison The Hamilton Spectator 4/7/15

Albright-Knox Art Gallery in Buffalo is older than Canada itself.  John Rennison, Hamilton Spectator

There’s also the Albright-Knox Art Gallery. Older than Canada itself, the gallery is so contemporary they have a de Kooning that was still wet when it was hung.

The Albright-Knox Art Gallery in Buffalo is older than Canada itself John Rennison The Hamilton Spectator 4/7/15

The Albright-Knox in Buffalo. John Rennison, Hamilton Spectator