Richard Neutra (1892-1970) was one of the giants of 20th-century architecture. His importance to the modernist movement as a whole as well as to the rise of modernism in California cannot be overstated. Neutra was born in Austria where he studied under Adolf Loos and worked with Erich Mendelsohn. He came to the U.S. in 1923. He worked with Frank Lloyd Wright, then took up residence with his friend RM Schindler. They collaborated on several projects but eventually had a falling out over how to credit a certain work. Neutra was on the cover of Time magazine in 1949—a rarity for an architect. His most famous buildings include: the Lovell House and the VDL Residence, both in Los Angeles (the latter where he and his family lived), and the Kaufmann Desert House in Palm Springs, among others. In addition to training architects who would go on to prominence like Gregory Ain and Raphael Soriano, Neutra’s work helped spur the rise of photographer Julius Shulman. Shulman photographed many Neutra projects, each reinforcing the other’s reputation as the expert maker and chronicler of Californian modernism.
