Murals





In pre-World War I German art circles, divisions between fine and applied art, and between private and public art, were never as sharply drawn as in the United States. While studying with Julius Diez at the Kunstgewerbeschule in Munich, Reiss was taught mural painting along poster design during a period when the Jugendstil still dominated the German art scene. In the United States, his first murals were commissioned by restaurants and other commercial establishments desiring large format decorations. Reiss's combination of flat angular designs and bold, eye-popping color distinguished his work.

In 1933 Reiss was appointed assistant professor of Mural Painting at New York University's College of Fine Arts, after he had completed his most ambitious mural commission, the mosaic murals in the Cincinnati Union Railroad Terminal. That project, especially the murals rendered in mosaics, exhibited on a huge scale his talents in portraiture and abstract design. In 1946, another mosaic mural commission, this one at the Woolaroc Museum in Bartlesville, Oklahoma, combined abstract design with Indian iconography in a large public presentation. For Reiss, the commercial and the fine arts were never separate; and here they combined to create great art on a grand scale. —JCS


Restaurant Murals - Back to top
Study for Grill Room, Alamac Hotel, ca. 1923

Grill Room, Alamac Hotel, 1923

The Lady, Grill Room,
Alamac Hotel

The Falconer, Grill Room,
Alamac Hotel

  
Study for Medieval Mural, Alamac Hotel
Congo Room, Alamac Hotel, 1923


 
Steuben Tavern, Medieval Hunting
Scenes Murals, 1934
Study for Steuben Tavern: Hunter with Dogs, 1934  


Chanin Building Longchamps
Section of Louis XV Murals

Louis XV Mural,
Chanin Building Longchamps, 1935
City of the Future mural detail
1450 Broadway Longchamps, 1936

Study for Abstract
Mural Panel in Empire
State Longchamps, 1938
Study for Abstract
Mural Panel in Empire
State Longchamps, 1938


Reiss as a Muralist

Reiss was unusual in
sometimes incorporating
mosaic and three-dimensional
or sculptural elements in his
wall decorations, all of which
he considered 'murals'.
Because his commercial
commissions were ephemeral
in nature it is assumed that
most of them have not survived.
We show a selection of what
does remain, black and white
photographs, drawings and
color studies, to represent a
vast and rich body of work.

South Sea Island Ballroom
Hotel Sherman, Chicago, 1921
Holabird & Roche, architects
Murals

Apollo Theatre
Chicago, 1921
Holabird & Roche, architects
Theatre and Lobbies:
Grecian Dance Frieze and
Allegorical Panels

Alamac Hotel
New York City, 1923
Harry Latz, developer
Grill Room: Medieval Murals
and Five-metal Panels
Rooftop Congo Room:

African Murals

Palmer House Hotel
Chicago, 1927
Holabird & Roche, architects
Bar Mural: Tropical Theme

Cincinnati Union Terminal
Cincinnati, Ohio, 1933
Fellheimer & Wagner, architects
12,000 sq. ft. of Mosaic Murals:
Rotunda: History of Transportation
and History of Cincinnati
Concourse: 18 Industrial Murals
(Industries of Cincinnati.)

Steuben Tavern
New York City, 1934
1465 Broadway at 42nd Street
Simon Zelnik, architect
Winold Reiss, designer
Medieval Hunting Scenes Murals

Longchamps Restaurant
New York City, 1935
Chanin Building
Louis XV Murals

Longchamps Restaurant
New York City, 1935
Madison Ave. at 59th Street
Louis Allan Abramson, architect
Indian Mosaic Murals

Longchamps Restaurant
New York City, 1936
1450 Broadway
Continental Building
Office Tower:
Ely Jacques Kahn, architect
Restaurant: Louis Allan Abramson,
architect, Winold Reiss, designer.
City of the Future Murals

Longchamps Restaurant
New York City, 1938
Empire State Building
Ely Jacques Kahn and
Charles Schweizer, architects
Winold Reiss, designer
Abstract Mural Panels

Longchamps Restaurant
New York City, 1938
253 Broadway opposite City Hall
Ely Jacques Kahn, architect
Winold Reiss, designer
International Mural

Hess Bros. Department Store
"The Patio" Restaurant,
Allentown, Pennsylvania, 1938
Mexican Murals

Theater and Concert Building
1939, New York World's Fair
Reinhard & Hofmeister, architects
Façade Mural, 65 ft high,
metal and mosaic

Woolaroc Museum
Bartlesville, Oklahoma, 1946
Neville and Sharp, architects
Entrance Façade Mosaic Murals

Santa Fe Railroad Ticket Office
Kansas City, Missouri, 1951
Neville, Sharp & Simon, architects
Grand Canyon Mural

Longchamps Restaurant
Washington, D.C., 1952
Wyatt Building 14th Street
at New York Avenue
Indian Murals

Winold Reiss at
the Empire State
Longchamps, 1938




Hess Bros. Department Store,
Mexican Murals, 1938
Mexican Mural,
Hess Bros. Department Store, 1938


Buffalo Dance Mural,
Restaurant Longchamps, ca. 1951

Buffalo Dancer, Study for Mural at
Restaurant Longchamps, ca. 1951
Sign Talkers Mural,
Restaurant Longchamps, ca. 1951
Buffalo Dancer, Study for Mural at
Restaurant Longchamps, ca. 1951

Study for a Restaurant Mural


Santa Fe Railroad Ticket Office - Back to top

Sketch Series for Mural in Santa Fe Railroad Ticket Office,
Four panels, each 20"x30", 1951

Santa Fe Railroad Ticket Office, Kansas City, Missouri, 1951

 
 

Ritz Carlton Roof, Mountain Panorama 'Morning'

Ritz Carlton Roof, Mountain Panorama 'Night'


Cincinnati Union Terminal - Back to top

Photographs of the Cincinnati Union Terminal murals are by Gregory Thorp.

  In the News
  Uncovering the Murals
  After years of quiet labor, men in the murals are named

 

 

Rotunda Murals: South Wall (left)
and North Wall (right)

Cincinnati Union Terminal



Rotunda Murals: Detail from 'The Scyther' segment

Rotunda Murals: Detail from 'The Scyther' segment Rotunda Murals: Detail from 'The Scyther' segment



Rotunda Murals: Detail from 'Soldier' segment

Rotunda Murals: Detail from 'Workmen' segment Rotunda Murals: Detail from 'Workmen' segment



Detail from Cincinnati Milling Machine mural



Detail from Rotunda Mural: Signature

Rotunda Murals: Detail from 'Pioneer Woman' segment Detail from Rookwood Pottery mural
Detail from Crosley Broadcasting mural Detail from American Rolling Mill mural  
1939 World's Fair - Back to top

Music & Theater Hall at the 1939 New York World's Fair

Entrance Music & Theater Hall,
1939 New York World's Fair
New York World's Fair, 1939

Woolaroc Museum - Back to top

 

Woolaroc Museum,
Entrance Façade Mosaic Murals, 1946

Kiowa Fancy Dancer, 1946

Hopi Rain Dance, 1946
Turtle—Bear Society, 1946

Eastern Woodsman with Calumet, 1946

Buffalo Dancer with Tomahawk, 1946


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