A House Portrait of Frank Lloyd Wright’s Meyer May House in Grand Rapids, Michigan

by Jennifer Skopp

Jennifer Skopp painted a Watercolor House Portrait of Frank Lloyd Wright’s Meyer May House, located in Grand Rapids, Michigan. This house was commissioned by Meyer S. May, who was president of May’s clothing store. It was built in 1908-09.

Meyer May House was designed in Wright’s Prairie School style. It is two-stories, constructed with tan bricks and there are art glass windows. The house is shaped like a T. There are long broad eaves.

Jennifer limited the palette of this House Portrait and concentrated on mixing various of yellows, greens and blues. There is a strong sense of sunlight. The bushes and grass are shaded from dark greens to yellow and the delineated shadows appear blue. Jennifer depicted the bushes and trees in the background with simplified flat shapes. The different roofs are brick red in color and add a hint of contrast to the blue, green and yellow color scheme.

The house is enclosed with bushes that are trimmed to uniform, rectangular shapes. Jennifer shows a hint of these bushes on the bottom of the painting to contain the house and lawn in front. There are also rows of low bushes that border the T shaped front of the house.