Hildreth Meière (, ) (1892–1961) was an American muralist active in the first half of the twentieth century who is especially known for her

Art Deco Art Deco, short for the French ''Arts Décoratifs'', and sometimes just called Deco, is a style of visual arts, architecture, and product design, that first appeared in France in the 1910s (just before World War I), and flourished in the Unite ...

designs. During her 40-year career she completed approximately 100 commissions. She designed

murals A mural is any piece of graphic artwork that is painted or applied directly to a wall, ceiling or other permanent substrate. Mural techniques include fresco, mosaic, graffiti and marouflage. Word mural in art The word ''mural'' is a Spanish ...

for office buildings, churches, government centers, theaters, restaurants, cocktail lounges, ocean liners, and world’s fair pavilions, and she worked in a wide variety of mediums, including paint, ceramic tile, glass and marble

mosaic A mosaic is a pattern or image made of small regular or irregular pieces of colored stone, glass or ceramic, held in place by plaster/mortar, and covering a surface. Mosaics are often used as floor and wall decoration, and were particularly pop ...

terracotta Terracotta, terra cotta, or terra-cotta (; ; ), in its material sense as an earthenware substrate, is a clay-based ceramic glaze, unglazed or glazed ceramic where the pottery firing, fired body is porous. In applied art, craft, construction, a ...

, wood, metal, and

stained glass Stained glass is coloured glass as a material or works created from it. Throughout its thousand-year history, the term has been applied almost exclusively to the windows of churches and other significant religious buildings. Although tradition ...

. Among her extensive body of work are the iconographic interiors at the

Nebraska State Capitol The Nebraska State Capitol is the seat of government for the U.S. state of Nebraska and is located in downtown Lincoln. Designed by New York architect Bertram Grosvenor Goodhue in 1920, it was constructed of Indiana limestone from 1922 to 193 ...

Lincoln Lincoln most commonly refers to: * Abraham Lincoln (1809–1865), the sixteenth president of the United States * Lincoln, England, cathedral city and county town of Lincolnshire, England * Lincoln, Nebraska, the capital of Nebraska, U.S. * Lincoln ...

, the dynamic roundels of ''Dance'', ''Drama'', and ''Song'' at

Radio City Music Hall Radio City Music Hall is an entertainment venue and Theater (structure), theater at 1260 Sixth Avenue (Manhattan), Avenue of the Americas, within Rockefeller Center, in the Midtown Manhattan neighborhood of New York City. Nicknamed "The Showplac ...

, the

apse In architecture, an apse (plural apses; from Latin 'arch, vault' from Ancient Greek 'arch'; sometimes written apsis, plural apsides) is a semicircular recess covered with a hemispherical vault or semi-dome, also known as an ''exedra''. In ...

and

narthex The narthex is an architectural element typical of early Christian and Byzantine basilicas and churches consisting of the entrance or lobby area, located at the west end of the nave, opposite the church's main altar. Traditionally the narthex ...

mosaics and stained-glass windows at St. Bartholomew's Episcopal Church (Manhattan), and the decoration of the Great Hall at the

National Academy of Sciences The National Academy of Sciences (NAS) is a United States nonprofit, non-governmental organization. NAS is part of the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine, along with the National Academy of Engineering (NAE) and the Nati ...

Washington, D.C. ) , image_skyline = , image_caption = Clockwise from top left: the Washington Monument and Lincoln Memorial on the National Mall, United States Capitol, Logan Circle, Jefferson Memorial, White House, Adams Morgan, ...

Early life

Hildreth Meière was born in

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the List of United States cities by population, most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the L ...

in 1892. After graduating from the Academy of the Sacred Heart, a Catholic girls’ boarding school in Manhattan, Meière spent a year in

Florence Florence ( ; it, Firenze ) is a city in Central Italy and the capital city of the Tuscany region. It is the most populated city in Tuscany, with 383,083 inhabitants in 2016, and over 1,520,000 in its metropolitan area.Bilancio demografico an ...

studying painting with an English artist. The

Renaissance The Renaissance ( , ) , from , with the same meanings. is a period in European history marking the transition from the Middle Ages to modernity and covering the 15th and 16th centuries, characterized by an effort to revive and surpass ideas ...

frescoes Fresco (plural ''frescos'' or ''frescoes'') is a technique of mural painting executed upon freshly laid ("wet") lime plaster. Water is used as the vehicle for the dry-powder pigment to merge with the plaster, and with the setting of the plaste ...

that she saw in

Italy Italy ( it, Italia ), officially the Italian Republic, ) or the Republic of Italy, is a country in Southern Europe. It is located in the middle of the Mediterranean Sea, and its territory largely coincides with the homonymous geographical re ...

had a great impact on the direction her career would take. As she later wrote, "I fell in love, once and for all, with mural painting and great beautiful walls.” Meière furthered her studies at the

Art Students League of New York The Art Students League of New York is an art school at 215 West 57th Street in Manhattan, New York City, New York. The League has historically been known for its broad appeal to both amateurs and professional artists. Although artists may stu ...

, the California School of Fine Arts in San Francisco (now the

San Francisco Art Institute San Francisco Art Institute (SFAI) was a private college of contemporary art in San Francisco, California. Founded in 1871, SFAI was one of the oldest art schools in the United States and the oldest west of the Mississippi River. Approximately ...

), the

School of the Art Institute of Chicago The School of the Art Institute of Chicago (SAIC) is a private art school associated with the Art Institute of Chicago (AIC) in Chicago, Illinois. Tracing its history to an art students' cooperative founded in 1866, which grew into the museum and ...

, and the School of Applied Design for Women in New York where she participated in design competitions administered by the

Beaux-Arts Institute of Design The Beaux-Arts Institute of Design (BAID, later the National Institute for Architectural Education) was an art and architectural school at 304 East 44th Street in Turtle Bay, Manhattan, in New York City.U.S. Navy The United States Navy (USN) is the maritime service branch of the United States Armed Forces and one of the eight uniformed services of the United States. It is the largest and most powerful navy in the world, with the estimated tonnage of ...

Career

Meière began her career designing costumes and sets for the theater. In 1921 she was introduced to the architect

Bertram Grosvenor Goodhue Bertram Grosvenor Goodhue (April 28, 1869 – April 23, 1924) was an American architect celebrated for his work in Gothic Revival and Spanish Colonial Revival design. He also designed notable typefaces, including Cheltenham and Merrymount for ...

who gave Meière her first major mural commission, the decoration of the Great Hall at the

in Washington, D.C. Goodhue also selected Meière to design the interiors of the

in Lincoln, Meière’s largest and one of her most important commissions. Over an eight-year period, she designed decorations for the Capitol vestibule, foyer, rotunda, and senate and house chambers. Meière went on to design murals for buildings throughout the country, although some of her best work can be found in Manhattan. She became especially well known for integrating murals within architectural settings. As she once stated, a good mural “cannot be taken away without hurting the design of the building.” Although Meière is most closely associated with the Art Deco movement, she was capable of designing in a variety of styles depending on the needs and wishes of her clients. During

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

, Meière organized a group of artists to paint portable three-panel

altarpieces An altarpiece is an artwork such as a painting, sculpture or relief representing a religious subject made for placing at the back of or behind the altar of a church (building), Christian church. Though most commonly used for a single work of art s ...

, or triptychs, that The Citizens Committee for the Army and Navy distributed to American military camps, airfields, and ships throughout the world. More than 500 triptychs were produced and Meière herself painted more than 70. She also taught first aid for the Red Cross.

Professional organizations

As Meière herself wrote, “I have always been active in professional organizations, believing that we owe some of our time and energies to them." She was the first woman ever appointed to the

New York City Art Commission The New York City Public Design Commission, known legally as the Art Commission, is the agency of the New York City government that reviews permanent works of architecture, landscape architecture, and art proposed on or over city-owned property. T ...

and she was a founder of the Liturgical Arts Society and served as the organization's first president. She served four terms as President of the

National Society of Mural Painters The National Society of Mural Painters (NSMP) is an American artists' organization originally known as The Mural Painters. The charter of the society is to advance the techniques and standards for the design and execution of mural art for the enri ...

; six terms as First Vice President of the

Architectural League of New York The Architectural League of New York is a non-profit organization "for creative and intellectual work in architecture, urbanism, and related disciplines". The league dates from 1881, when Cass Gilbert organized meetings at the Salmagundi Club for ...

; Director of the

Municipal Arts Society A municipality is usually a single administrative division having corporate status and powers of self-government or jurisdiction as granted by national and regional laws to which it is subordinate. The term ''municipality'' may also mean the go ...

; Director of the Department of Mural Decoration at the Beaux Arts Institute of Design; member of the Architectural Guild of America; and a board member of the Art Students League, the Municipal Arts Society, the School Art League, and the Advisory Committee of the Cooper Union Art School, all in New York.

Awards and recognition

Meière’s first major award came in recognition of one of her early projects. In 1928, a full six years before the Architectural League of New York admitted female members, the organization awarded Meière a gold medal in Mural Decoration for her work at the

. The U.S. War Department recognized the work she did with the Citizens Committee for the Army and Navy during World War II. In 1956, she became the first woman to win the Fine Arts Medal of the

American Institute of Architects The American Institute of Architects (AIA) is a professional organization for architects in the United States. Headquartered in Washington, D.C., the AIA offers education, government advocacy, community redevelopment, and public outreach to su ...

Manhattanville College Manhattanville College is a private university in Purchase, New York. Founded in 1841 at 412 Houston Street in lower Manhattan, it was initially known as Academy of the Sacred Heart, then after 1847 as Manhattanville College of the Sacred Heart ...

, Meière's alma mater, presented her with an honorary doctorate in 1953, and in 1959 the school presented here with a distinguished service award.

Selected works

For a complete list of Hildreth Meière’s work see ''The Art Deco Murals of Hildreth Meière'', Catherine Coleman Brawer and Kathleen Murphy Skolnik. New York City: Andrea Monfried Editions, 2014. * Painted and gilded gesso decorations for the Great Hall of the

1924 * Interiors, including ceramic tile domes, marble mosaic floors, leather doors, and gold-leaf stenciled designs, for the

Lincoln, Nebraska Lincoln is the capital city of the U.S. state of Nebraska and the county seat of Lancaster County. The city covers with a population of 292,657 in 2021. It is the second-most populous city in Nebraska and the 73rd-largest in the United Sta ...

, 1924-32 * Glazed ceramic tile decoration for the vaults and apse ceiling at

Rockefeller Memorial Chapel Rockefeller Chapel is a Gothic Revival chapel on the campus of the University of Chicago in Chicago, Illinois. A monumental example of Collegiate Gothic architecture, it was meant by patron John D. Rockefeller to be the "central and dominant fea ...

University of Chicago The University of Chicago (UChicago, Chicago, U of C, or UChi) is a private research university in Chicago, Illinois. Its main campus is located in Chicago's Hyde Park neighborhood. The University of Chicago is consistently ranked among the b ...

, 1928 * Marble floor mosaics at the Baltimore Trust Building, 1929 * Glass mosaics for the apse and narthex and four stained-glass clerestory windows for the nave at St. Bartholomew's Church,

, 1929-56 * Glass mosaics for the arch and ark of the main sanctuary at Temple Emanu-El, New York City, 1929 * Consultant on color and scale for the Red Room on the ground floor of

1 Wall Street 1 Wall Street (also known as the Irving Trust Company Building, the Bank of New York Building, and the BNY Mellon Building) is a skyscraper in the Financial District of Lower Manhattan, New York City, on the eastern side of Broadway between Wal ...

(originally the Irving Trust Company Building, later the Bank of New York Mellon Building and now the One Wall Street condominium,

, 1931 * ''Dance, Drama, Song'' (1932), three metal and enamel roundels for the 50th Street facade of the

building at

Rockefeller Center Rockefeller Center is a large complex consisting of 19 commerce, commercial buildings covering between 48th Street (Manhattan), 48th Street and 51st Street (Manhattan), 51st Street in Midtown Manhattan, New York City. The 14 original Art Deco ...

, New York City (executed by Oscar Bach) * Glass mosaic lobby ceiling and tile map for the lobby wall of the AT&T Long Distance Building, New York City, 1932 * Two projects for the 1933

Century of Progress A Century of Progress International Exposition, also known as the Chicago World's Fair, was a world's fair held in the city of Chicago, Illinois, United States, from 1933 to 1934. The fair, registered under the Bureau International des Expositi ...

Exposition in

Chicago (''City in a Garden''); I Will , image_map = , map_caption = Interactive Map of Chicago , coordinates = , coordinates_footnotes = , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name ...

—a large painted mural entitled ''The Progress of Women through Organization'' and the terracotta tile floor of a pool for the Communications Court * Multiple projects for the 1939 New York World’s Fair * Oil-on-canvas mural for the ocean liner SS ''President Monroe'', commissioned by the

United States Maritime Commission The United States Maritime Commission (MARCOM) was an independent executive agency of the U.S. federal government that was created by the Merchant Marine Act of 1936, which was passed by Congress on June 29, 1936, and was abolished on May 24, 195 ...

and the

Section of Painting and Sculpture The Treasury Section of Painting and Sculpture was a New Deal art project established on October 16, 1934, and administered by the Procurement Division of the United States Department of the Treasury. Commonly known as the Section, it was rena ...

(1940) * Inlaid marble alter frontal depicting the Annunciation for the Lady Chapel at St. Patrick's Cathedral, New York, 1942 * Glass mosaics and majolica frieze at the

Cathedral Basilica of Saint Louis The Cathedral Basilica of Saint Louis, also known as the Saint Louis Cathedral, is a cathedral of the Roman Catholic Church located in the Central West End neighborhood of St. Louis, Missouri. Completed in 1914, it is the mother church of the Arch ...

St. Louis, Missouri St. Louis () is the second-largest city in Missouri, United States. It sits near the confluence of the Mississippi River, Mississippi and the Missouri Rivers. In 2020, the city proper had a population of 301,578, while the Greater St. Louis, ...

, 1945-61 * Glass mosaic of the risen Christ for the half-dome of the apse of the Resurrection Chapel at

Washington National Cathedral The Cathedral Church of Saint Peter and Saint Paul in the City and Diocese of Washington, commonly known as Washington National Cathedral, is an American cathedral of the Episcopal Church. The cathedral is located in Washington, D.C., the cap ...

, Washington, D.C., 1951 * Map of the Mississippi in gesso and metal-leaf for the Cabin Class Lounge,

SS United States SS ''United States'' is a retired ocean liner built between 1950 and 1951 for the United States Lines at a cost of (equivalent to $ million in ). The ship is the largest ocean liner constructed entirely in the United States and the fast ...

; Meière also worked, along with Austin Purves, Jr., on the over-all design of the ship interiors, 1952 * Three-part marble mosaic mural for the lobby of Prudential Plaza,

Newark, New Jersey Newark ( , ) is the most populous city in the U.S. state of New Jersey and the seat of Essex County and the second largest city within the New York metropolitan area.Franciscan Institute Publications , image = FrancescoCoA PioM.svg , image_size = 200px , caption = A cross, Christ's arm and Saint Francis's arm, a universal symbol of the Franciscans , abbreviation = OFM , predecessor = , ...

, 2009.

ISBN The International Standard Book Number (ISBN) is a numeric commercial book identifier that is intended to be unique. Publishers purchase ISBNs from an affiliate of the International ISBN Agency. An ISBN is assigned to each separate edition and ...

978-1-935314-00-4 *''The Art Deco Murals of Hildreth Meière'', by Catherine Coleman Brawer, Kathleen Murphy Skolnik. New York City: Andrea Monfried Editions, 2014.

978-0991026302

Images

File:NebraskaStateCapitolFloor1.jpg, Nebraska State Capitol floor mosaic File:RCMH NYC1.jpg, ''Song'', Radio City Music Hall roundel File:Radio City Music Hall ext 2003.jpg, Three roundels ''in situ'' File:Africa Mosaic Detail AT&T Long Distance Building Lobby.jpg, Africa Mosaic Detail AT&T Long Distance Building Lobby

References

External links

Official website
International Hildreth Meière Association.

National Academy of Sciences. {{DEFAULTSORT:Meière, Hildreth 1892 births 1961 deaths Art Deco artists Art Students League of New York alumni American muralists Yeoman (F) personnel Mosaic artists Manhattanville College alumni 20th-century American painters 20th-century American women artists Women muralists Section of Painting and Sculpture artists