
https://www.artic.edu/artworks/56682/the-rock
In the 9th grade, when I was 15, I took a class trip to Chicago and we visited the Art Institute. I remember wandering around and finding this painting. A few of us were fascinated by it, but we didn't know what it all meant. I remember it frightening me a bit, but also being drawn to it. Reading the description I found, to my surprise, it belonged to Edgar and Liliane Kaufmann. They commissioned it and it hung at Fallingwater. In fact, the construction on the left is meant to represent Fallingwater. It was given to the Art Institute by Edgar Kaufmann Jr.
I remember there being some really great art at Fallingwater last time I visited. There were some Japanese prints - Hiroshige's I believe - and also a few paintings that impressed me (perhaps a Georgia O'Keefe? The fact that my memory is failing me on this is killing me.) But this raises some questions - first, where did this painting originally hang? Are there any pictures of it in situ? What else used to be at Fallingwater that isn't anymore?
I know that EK Jr. was quite the collector, but how much of it was his parent's art to begin with? I'd love to know more about their taste.