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Frank Lloyd Wright is a $30-million-a-year industry. Not bad for someone who's been dead almost four decades.
As arguably America's pre-eminent architect, Wright, who died in 1959, created designs for homes and their interiors that have stood the test of time. So well, in fact, that those designs can be--and are--owned by much of the populace, in the form of reproductions of vases and lamps, as well as more pedestrian goods: jewelry and scarves, mouse pads and T-shirts.
Art-inspired merchandise has long been a revenue stream for museum gift shops and other educational institutions. But the market for all things Wright has exploded in recent years. Adaptations of his handiwork are sold in main stream department stores and specialty boutiques.
Last year, the Frank Lloyd Wright Collection, a catalog devoted exclusively to Wright, was launched by a division of Minneapolis-based Dayton Hudson Corp.
Mania only to escalate
And with a two-night PBS documentary by Ken Burns, the noted creator of epic documentaries on the Civil War, baseball and the Brooklyn Bridge, set to air here Nov. 10 and 11, the retailers, manufacturers and museums that celebrate--and cash in on--the architect's legacy expect Wrightmania only to escalate.
An estimated $30 million in Wright-related merchandise is sold annually, according to Steve Kroeter, president of New York-based Archetype Associates, a consulting firm that handles licensing for the work of Wright and other architects.
Mr. Kroeter became interested in Wright while...