Muralists - Creators of Our Urban Treasures

Obviously, you’ve seen murals on buildings, ceilings, walls, etc. in palaces, museums, or maybe the Vatican’s Sistine Chapel, though sometimes both the artist and the location may surprise you. Next time you're in a large city like Portland, L.A., New York, or Boston, keep a watchful eye for these urban treasures. 

Monet (1920), MOMA NYC

Perhaps the most famous murals were done by Leonardo da Vinci, Michelangelo, and Raphael. But did you know that modern artists such as Claude Monet, Diego Rivera, and John Singer Sargent also painted murals?

Sargent's “Triumph of Religion” mural at the Boston Public Library tells the story of Judeo-Christian religious history. Another good reason to visit the library!

Some works large enough to be murals are in reality very large paintings often displayed side-by-side with adjacent sides touching. Murals done quickly in watercolor on wet plaster are known as frescoes. Most modern-day outdoor urban murals are done in good ole house paint.

Diego Rivera's famous mural, "Dream of a Sunday Afternoon in Alameda Park", was displayed on a wall in the Hotel Prado in Mexico City in 1947. Following the earthquake of 1985, it was moved to the Museo Mural de Diego Rivera.

Here in the Northwest, you may have heard of Portland's Sovereign Hotel where its western and southern facing white walls were transformed into two trompe l'oeil murals by Richard Haas.

The windows running down the center of the walls are real but everything else is painted on to trick your eye.

You need to read the story by the Oregon Historical Society to find out its fate in 2016-17.

Another 'mural' is painted on the outside of the Musée Matisse in Nice, France. When we visited France and Italy in 2011, I was surprised to find that not all of the windows were real. The artist is unknown. Several other buildings in Nice also contain murals on one or more sides. I didn't know this when I visited there.

"Hollywood Jazz: 1945-1972" (1990), Wyatt

Richard Wyatt Jr. is a muralist from L.A. who has also exhibited at the Frye Art Museum in Seattle. His murals in L.A., like this one outside Capital Records, are iconic urban masterpieces.

Wyatt's "City of Dream/River of History" adorns L.A.'s Union Station.





I want to share one more 'mural', today's Google Doodle. It celebrates the life of Dame Jean Macnamara, who contributed to the discovery of the Polio vaccine in 1955. It's a painting of hope by Norman Rockwell. Or is it by Edward Hopper? April Fool! This doodle is actually by artist Thomas Campi of Syndey, Australia.
It was so impressive to me and somewhat of a trompe l'oeil that I had to include it in my blog.