Female Art Deco muralist gets long-overdue praise

Featured on northjersey.com

A new book on the career of Hildreth Meiere Hildreth Meiere was a prolific art deco muralist whose highly stylized figures and geometric patterns adorn New York's Radio City Music Hall, the Newark Museum and many other noted buildings.

Yet the artist remains relatively unknown.

A new book is seeking to give Meiere her due, chronicling a career that broke barriers at a time in the first half of the 20th century when few women artists were working on such a grand scale.

"She was really cutting edge," said art historian Catherine Coleman Brawer, co-author of "The Art Deco Murals of Hildreth Meiere." "Her work has been enjoyed by millions of people over the last 90 years without knowing her name. That's why we have written this book."

Meiere, who would go on to work on about 100 projects in 15 states, came of age as an artist at a time when many leading architects turned to the muralist to embellish their buildings.

She landed her first major commission in 1922 to decorate the Great Hall of the National Academy of Sciences in Washington, D.C., where she created medallions of art deco figures depicting earth, fire, water and air, among other imagery.

Among her many captivating narrative designs are the shimmering glass mosaics she created for the eight-story-high arch in the main sanctuary of Temple Emanu-El and the narthex of St. Bartholomew's Church in New York.

Click here to read the full article.