Wright began his career in Chicago in 1887, but his real architectural education was the five years spent with Louis Sullivan (1856–1924), whose office he joined as a draftsman in 1888. In 1893, though, Wright opened an independent practice and over the succeeding seventeen years was known as a rising young architect in Chicago.
In 1909, Wright left for a sojourn in Europe, and it was during this period that the two famous Wasmuth portfolios were issued. The first, printed in 1910, consisted of 100 beautiful lithographs; the second, which appeared in the following year, was illustrated with photographs of Wright's executed projects. Their publication and an accompanying exhibition in Berlin brought Wright's work to the attention of a younger generation of European designers and established his place at the forefront of the modern movement.