grand illusions: Mu r al s to Teas e the Eye
Trompe l’oeil (deceive the eye) murals are a popular part of visual culture, bringing art into the public realm to work its magic on those who might never visit an art gallery, museum, or an artist’s studio. From the Ancient Greek and Roman wall paintings, through the Renaissance and Baroque periods and into the present era, the illusionistic effects of mural painting have denied the reality of the walls on which they are painted, opening up space to panoramic vistas and visionary scenes in which mythical creatures, statuary, local citizens, or historic personages can be portrayed.
BY ADRIENNE GYONGY
DIANA PAU
If it is the artist’s prerogative to employ illusionistic tricks to play with space, Pratt’s highly trained alumni have exercised it to good purpose with extraordinary effect. In ambitious murals that combine art and social history, they have not only completed commissions for clients but also continued a longstanding artistic tradition of large-scale wall painting that contributes to public appreciation of art. After a $100 million renovation that took 15 months to complete, the Hotel Pierre on Manhattan’s Fifth Avenue reopened in June 2009. Few people are aware that the murals of the rotunda, which have been a signature piece of the hotel for more than 40 years, were painted with the able assistance of artist Richard Taddei, then a fourth-year student in Pratt’s School of Architecture, who had already studied painting for a year in the School of Art and Design. The master painter of the rotunda murals, the late Edward Melcarth, concentrated on the statues and the figures, but hired Taddei, whom he met through Pratt Professor Edward Carroll, to do the landscapes and architectural backgrounds. According to Taddei, this apprenticeship proved to be so inspiring that he decided to become an artist rather than an architect. Richard Piccolo, B.I.D. ’66, then a drawing instructor under Carroll, also participated. Together they painted the rotunda murals on site using acrylic paint on the canvas-covered walls. “We worked all night every week for a year while hotel nightlife carried on,” Taddei recalls. “Almost every night as we worked on the scaffolds, we were referred to as ‘Michelangelo.’ I was attending Pratt during the day, so I got very little sleep and often dozed off in class.” Among his understanding professors were Sybil MoholyNagy, Michael Brill, and Alvin Ross. The trompe l’oeil murals on which Taddei collaborated recall 17thcentury Venetian landscapes as they collectively insinuate the greater depth of a third dimension into the confined area of the lobby interior, while admitting the spectator into an opened up, outdoor space: Gardens viewed through an architectural fantasy encircle the rotunda, surmounted by a cloud-filled sky on the ceiling. The painted pilasters and capitals stand out so realistically that visitors to the nearby café and restaurant marvel at the sight. 14
p rat t folio
Detail by Pratt alumnus Richard Piccolo from the Hotel Pierre rotunda murals, 1968, acrylic on canvas panels, each 22 x 17 feet. A larger view is seen to the right. Piccolo now directs Pratt’s Architecture in Rome program and still teaches drawing to Pratt students.