George Gough Booth, a Detroit newspaper baron and philanthropist, and Eliel Saarinen, the Finnish architect, known for his major role in American design and architecture founded the Cranbook Academy of Art in 1932. Eliel Saarinen became the first president of the Academy along with acting as master architect for a number of the institutions Booth founded on his family estate in Bloomfield Hills.
George and Ellen Booth envisioned the Academy as a school that would train artists, where art would be integrated into daily life to the benefit of all. Born of the Arts and Crafts movement, the Academy emerged as the country's preeminent art schools attracting an illustrious group of artists and craftsmen like Carl Milles, Harry Bertoia, Charles Eames, Maija Grotell, Eero Saarinen and Florence Knoll. Given the power to grant degrees in 1942, unlike other institutions, the Academy has chosen to remain small in size but over the years has influenced the world of art and architecture on a grand scale.
The Cranbrook Art Museum offers its visitors a glimpse into Cranbrook's remarkable past through its art collection, tours of the campus, and its changing exhibits of the finest contemporary art. Its permanent collection – The Cranbook Collection – showcases the simple elegance of a Saarinen chair, the color and depth of a Maija Grotell vase, and the abstract geometry of Harry Bertoia's metalwork. One of their newest exhibits, Painting Zero Degree, will run from February 5th to April 2, 2000 and explores painting at the crossroads between architecture, traditional painting and decorative arts.
If you are fortunate enough to visit Cranbrook, be sure to take the 90-minute tour, available from May through October, through Saarinen House and Garden, the former home and studio designed by Eliel Saarinen, Cranbrook's resident architect from 1925 to 1950. Loja Saarinen, Eliel's wife and celebrated textile designer designed the landscaping and gardens.
Another tour you might like to include is the Outdoor Sculpture Garden. The tour includes historically significant work by Swedish master Carl Miles, a student of August Renoir, and Michigan resident Marshall Fredericks. Part of the National Historic Landmark Register, this campus is an exceptional treat. As a native of Michigan, I spent many wonderful hours as a child wandering among the gardens and draping myself in the arms of every willing Fredericks sculptures.
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