Within the extended Wright family, the name Milton Wright appears a number of times through the generations. Orville and Wilbur's father Bishop Milton Wright enjoyed his grandchildren and often wrote about their visits in his diary entries, and his family letters. His grandson Milton was born in 1892, and so enjoyed a relationship with his Grandfather for 25 years (the Bishop died in 1917). In 1920, Milton Jr. was born, and this Milton is the subject of this post.
Milton and Susan Wright's children- Reuchlin, Lorin, Wilbur, Otis, Ida, Orville, Katharine.
Lorin and Ivonette (Netta) Wright's children- Milton, Ivonette, Leontine, Horace.
Milton and Ann Wright's children- Milton Jr.(Trotz), George Wilkinson (Wick)
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| Milton and George Wilkinson Wright, courtesy of Wright State University Core Scholar. |
Milton Jr., born July 3, 1920 (Orville Wright's grand-nephew) was an artist, and his Uncle Orv enjoyed teasing him about modern art.
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| Milton Wright Jr. self portrait. |
In the words of Milton Jr., speaking about his Uncle Orv, "But he was very, very fond of the family. He loved to argue with young people, loved to talk to young people. He liked to kid me about modern art all the time, and I've got letters from him with diagrams drawn making fun of modern art which he did.....he thought painting should be of pretty things, not unattractive looking things. He had some reproductions of things, Dutch Masters and whatnot around the house, mostly reproductions. But he liked to make fun of Picasso and Gertrude Stein and so forth. He was very, very traditional. I find many engineers or scientific people don't trust things that they can't sort out mathematically in a way. But he appreciated what I did. He would always go to exhibits, if I was in them. He loved to argue about it, and had a lot of fun.....I've got a drawing of a bird in a tree, some kind of thing that's a takeoff on Gertrude Stein's 'A Bird', or 'A Bird in a Tree', and he would draw the diagram, little drawings on the paper. He loved to make fun of Picasso. He sent a comment on a Henry Moore sculpture once...." (1)
Milton, reading from a letter his Uncle Orv had written to him, "I think Moore must be a real artist. At least he had enough sense to cut the poor woman's head off so she won't be having to blush in looking at herself. I wish some of the other modern artists had as much sense, but that's more than you can hope for." (1)
In an August 1946 letter, Orville wrote to Milton, "Dear Trotz, I am writing to let you know that I now, in my old age, am beginning to get an understanding of literature and art. I think that when I have lost all my teeth, my eyesight and my mind, I will be able to understand it still better...." (2)
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| Orville liked to tease, but he was actually a supporter of The Dayton Art Institute. |
Milton married Mary Gale Breene Loughbridge on November 16, 1946; the ceremony performed by Dr. Norman Vincent Peale at the Marble Collegiate Church in New York. His brother Wick was the best man. (5)
Orville had two student paintings of Milton's on the wall of his Study at Hawthorn Hill in Oakwood. After Orville's death in January of 1948, Milton gave those paintings to Orville's housekeeper, Carrie Grumbach. Carrie and her husband Charlie had no children, but she had a number of nephews and nieces; after Carrie died, Milton believed those paintings likely went to one of them. (1)
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| Orville Wright's Study at Hawthorn Hill, kept much as it was when Orville was living. Wouldn't it be nice to return those two paintings of Milton's (Trotz) that once hung here? Photo by Author. |
Another item in Orville's study was an old dried baby alligator. Milton's Aunt Leontine married John Jameson in 1923, and the ceremony was held at Hawthorn Hill. Milton recalled, "Well, when Leontine and John Jameson got married, they got married at his house, and I was about three years old, and there was an old dried baby alligator Uncle Orv always had in his study. And right at the most crucial moment of the ceremony, I speak up in this three-year-old voice, and say, 'Oh, look at the alligator!', and broke up the whole thing." (1)
Milton shared another account about his Uncle Orv, "There was a little museum in Richmond, Indiana, where he'd grown up, and an elderly lady was the director of the place. I can't remember her name now, but she had been a schoolteacher and kicked Orville out of school. Not only kicked him out of school, escorted him down the steps, I think. Luckily they were moving out of Richmond, so it didn't matter too much then. But there she was all friendly, and she's the one who'd thrown him out of school." (1)
The Dayton Herald, December 8, 1945 issue reported, "Water colors, oils and lithographs by Milton Wright are on view at the Dayton Art Institute. This young artist is the son of Mr. and Mrs. Milton Wright of this city and grand-nephew of Orville Wright. His enthusiasm in the matter of painting has not been stilled by the war. For three years now he has been stationed at Lowery Field, Denver, Colo., where he is in the film strip preparation unit. His evenings and weekly 'day-off' are spent in painting. Two years ago he was honored with a one-man show in Denver Art Museum. Water colors by Wright and oils by Charles Ellis were placed on view simultaneously several months back in Gallery Neuf, New York City. Last June he was represented in an exhibition at the Weyhe Galleries, New York City.
Much of his art training was received at Miami University where he was granted his bachelor of arts degree as was his father before him. His mother is a graduate from Oxford College for Women, Oxford, an institution which has merged since with Miami university.
Wright is not a one-subject painter. He likes countryside and the Colorado mountains. He likes corner delicatessen and factory scenes. He does an engaging still life. His lithographs are among the best work in the show....." (3)
Examples of Milton's artwork:
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| "Snow's Landing" (Truro, Massachusetts), oil on canvas, 22" by 28" |
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| Provincetown dock scene, Cape Cod, oil on canvas, 26" by 20", painted 1951. |
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| Provincetown (Massachusetts), oil on panel, 24" by 30". |
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| Union Square, New York City, oil on canvas, 23" by 17.5", painted 1948. |
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| Harbor scene, painted 1947, oil on canvas, 20" by 24". |
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| Shorescape, dated 1968, pen and ink, 17" by 23". |
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| "Drydock", gouache on paper, 1964, Cape Cod scene. |
From the Cape Cod Times, October 18, 2012, "...Milton Wright was an aspiring artist who first wended his way to Provincetown in 1938 at the behest of his friend and mentor Marston 'Bud' Hodgin. Hodgin, the dean of fine arts at Miami University in Oxford, Ohio- the institution Wright graduated from in 1942- was also a superb artist who happened to travel to the Cape each summer to paint. Wright visited sporadically after that initial contact, but he ended up buying a cottage at Great Hollow Beach in North Truro some years later. After teaching art for 20 years in the New York City area, Wright eventually retired to North Truro in 1977, maintaining a studio overlooking Cape Cod Bay with Provincetown tangibly close...." (4)
Milton developed pneumonia after undergoing surgery, and passed away at his home in Cape Cod at the age of 84. He died Sunday, February 20, 2005, twenty years ago from the writing of this post. (6)
Copyright 2025- Getting The Story Wright
On a lighter note, see related post-
Orville Wright- The Art Critic
Notes:
- Milton Wright interview with Ann Deines, September 26, 2000, Dayton Aviation Heritage NHP Oral History Project.
- Wright Reminiscences compiled by Ivonette Wright Miller, 1978, published by The Air Force Museum Foundation. August 2, 1946 letter Orville to Milton Wright Jr., pg 167.
- The Dayton Herald, Saturday, December 8, 1945 "Paintings By Dayton Artist On View at Art Institute", by Merab Eberle.
- Cape Cod Times, Oct 18, 2012, by Andre Van Der Wende,
- Dayton Daily News, November 17, 1946, "Mr. Wright Weds in East; Miamisburg Couple Marries".
- Dayton Daily News, February 22, 2005, "Milton Wright Jr. dies at 84", by Benjamin Kline.
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