In 1923, Paul Revere Williams (1894–1980) became the first African American architect to join the American Institute of Architecture. Nearly a century later in 2017, the organization posthumously awarded him its most prestigious honor, the AIA Gold Medal. In doing so, the country’s standard bearer for the field belatedly acknowledged Williams’s significant contributions to Los Angeles, both as a prolific and versatile designer and as a trailblazing community leader. Several factors account for this delay, starting with widespread discrimination in a profession that still struggles with racial and gender diversity. In addition, Williams was a master of many styles (including revivals), and not uniformly committed to the modernist aesthetic favored by prominent critics.
Over the last several years, photographer Janna Ireland has endeavored to preserve a record of Williams’s achievements and affirm his rightful position in history. She was drawn to the project as a way to further her visual exploration of Black life. Her lyrical black and white images often emphasize the elegant details that define Williams’s architecture, from the sinuous curving walls and staircases to the intricate trims. In her own words, photographing details allows Ireland to "focus on form and design" and convey the "meticulous yet really warm and human" aspects of his work.
Though best known for his glamorous mansions for the Los Angeles elite—built for stars such as Frank Sinatra, Barbara Stanwyck, Cary Grant, and Lucille Ball—Williams also designed beautiful homes for more modest budgets and even public housing projects, as well as public buildings. The selection of Ireland’s images in LACMA’s collection demonstrates the wide range of his talents. This photograph is one of three in the collection that depict the 1935 French Eclectic residence of Robert Merritt in Hancock Park, representing the high end of Williams’s clientele.
Staci Steinberger, Associate Curator, Decorative Arts and Design, 2021
