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
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
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
Uncovering the Murals 
