tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-201063344857780031.post1527032913177303027..comments2023-11-23T03:40:43.241-08:00Comments on Early Morning Discussions: Norris Kelly Smith : Epiloguechris millerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09575033275184403015noreply@blogger.comBlogger1125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-201063344857780031.post-38372416912734852732014-11-11T08:55:20.818-08:002014-11-11T08:55:20.818-08:00Norris Kelly Smith was Professor of the History of...Norris Kelly Smith was Professor of the History of Art at Washington University in St Louis for decades retiring in 1982. I had the opportunity to take his survey course on the history of art during his last year teaching.<br /><br />It was a superlative lecture course, but Prof Smith's penetrating insights came with "...so much hand wringing about the fall of civilization" exactly as you observe. I've not yet read this book but it is surely a statement of his views at the end of his career.<br /><br />His 1966 "Frank Lloyd Wright: A Study in Architectural Content" is, I'd say, a seminal text on Wright. If he had some admiration for Wright when he wrote that book it had waned as his views on the demise of art and Western civilization had formed. When I asked to sign my copy he told me he now "despised" Wright. Regardless, it is an extraordinary book.David J Gillhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10760087405580284041noreply@blogger.com