Episode 68: The Artist's Touch
Many marvel at several stunning new murals created by a famous painter for the opening of a grand hotel with an old familiar name.
Famous Spanish painter Sert finishes 15 murals for the new Waldorf-Astoria hotel on Park Avenue. Sert’s in-laws Prince Alexis Mdivani and new wife Princess Louise Van Alen Mdivani visit in Paris, while Princes Mae Murray Mdivani visits the Sert Room. Heading towards bankruptcy, Conrad Hilton aspires to own the new hotel.
Archival music provided by Past Perfect Vintage Music, www.pastperfect.com.
Extra Notes / Call to Action:
Banco Santander Foundation’s art collection
https://www.fundacionbancosantander.com/en/culture/art/banco-santander-collection
Sert Collection in the National Art Museum in Catalonia
https://www.hisour.com/sert-room-national-art-museum-of-catalonia-54689/
Forgotten Lives channel – https://www.youtube.com/c/ForgottenLives
Barbara Hutton – https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PLRsV5paVSE
Doris Duke – https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SuOLql-OySc
Marjorie Merriweather Post – https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JcxM-4utAoU
Alva Vanderbilt – https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eza21m9JXTg
Art Deco channel – https://www.youtube.com/c/ArtDecoTV
Photos of Conrad Hilton and Mae Murray will be available via As The Money Burns social media.
Share, like, subscribe
Publish Date: September 30, 2022
Length: 23:46
Opening Music: My Heart Belongs to Daddy by Billy Cotton, Album The Great British Dance Bands
Section 1 Music: Organ Grinder’s Song by Jack Payne, Album The Great British Dance Bands
Section 2 Music: It’s the Talk of the Town by Ambrose, Album The Great Dance Bands Play Hits of the 30s
Section 3 Music: Just As Long As The World Goes Round And Around by Jay Wilbur, Album The Great British Dance Bands
End Music: My Heart Belongs to Daddy by Billy Cotton, Album The Great British Dance Ban
AS THE MONEY BURNS
Podcast by Nicki Woodard
Episode 068 – The Artist’s Touch
00:00
[Music – My Heart Belongs to Daddy by Billy Cotton, Album The Great British Dance Bands]
AS THE MONEY BURNS is an original podcast by Nicki Woodard. Based on historical research, this is a deep exploration into what happened to a set of actual heirs and heiresses to some of America’s most famous fortunes when the Great Depression hits.
Each episode has three primary sections. Section 1 is a narrative story. Section 2 goes deeper into the historical facts. Section 3 focuses on contemporary, emotional, and personal connections.
00:30
Story Recap
Huntington Hartford’s secret marriage is no longer a secret, and Prince Serge Obolensky gives up his royal title and becomes an American citizen.
Now back to AS THE MONEY BURNS
Title
00:46
The Artist’s Touch
[Music Fade Out]
Episode Tag
*Forewarning I will have trouble with several pronunciations but will do my best.
01:07
[Music – Organ Grinder’s Song by Jack Payne, Album The Great British Dance Bands]
Section 1 – Story
[Music Fade Out]
01:22
1931 Paris
Large canvases circle around a Parisian workshop. Day to day, a small painter works from one to another in various stages of similar paintings in progress. He adds a hint of color there then matches in another, reconsiders one figure’s detail to then adjust another figure on a different one. Strokes and layers of paint fill in and form into images.
Overall 15 murals come to life in little over a year’s time. They tell of familiar scenes from Miguel de Cervantes’s Don Quixote. Boxers, acrobatics, tightrope walkers,… The largest canvas shows the Marriage of Quiteria and Camancho.
02:09
The panels are beautiful. Rich in color, both monochromatic and yet vivid. The layering of color in various shades and hues. Burgundy, dark reddish browns, black, cream, and white gold though there is a silver cast overall. Sert has perfected the art form known as grisaille, also seen in the future in Picasso’s Guernica (1937). As the name indicates, grisaille is heavily reliant on gray and grayish tones, though another color might similarly be layered in shades and hues though might have another term like brunaille for brown or verdaille for green. The overall resulting effect resembles more of a sculpture or underpainting. Sert takes this artistic technique and elevates the effect with metallic glitter colors including golden tones.
03:02
Sert fiddles with a few more touches then steps back satisfied enough. He plops his paintbrush into a small tin of water – finis (finished).
His young wife – exuding sexual energy – Princess Roussie Mdivani applauds the new creations along with his former first wife once a beauty in her own right, but now older and dowdier Misia. But they aren’t the only ones excited to see what the painter has created.
Back in March 1931, King Alfonso XIII of Spain visits to watch Sert paint and review up close another commission in progress for the Palacio Libia owned by the Duke of Alba. Those murals feature different aspects of the Alba family dating back to the fourteenth century. A bittersweet moment as darkness looms over the Spanish King who soon abdicates his throne that April.
04:02
July 1931, Paris
A more celebratory visit occurs when in-laws Prince Alexis Mdivani and Princess Louise Van Alen Mdivani arrive. Sert and Roussie host a lavish party for the newlyweds. Roussie showers her new sister-in-law and very wealthy heiress Princess Louise with attention. Prince Alexis proudly shows off his new stylish wardrobe, expensive watches, and rich wife.
Over the next few weeks, several small crowds and parties gather to marvel over the new Sert murals at the studio. The whimsy and artistic incarnations from the literary work dance over the panels. Critics, collectors, and the public alike salivate at the magnitude. Sert’s speed, precision, detail, and multiplicity are impressive.
04:54
As quickly as the paintings are finished, they are wrapped up for shipment. The commissioned works to be sent to their new home in New York City.
The murals will be installed into one dining room at the brand new Waldorf-Astoria on Park Avenue. Originally to be referred as the Rose Room, the room will quickly bear the name the Sert Room for decades to come. A place for fine dining and dancing, and where many future stars will make their debuts and performances, including Lil’ Cobina Wright Junior.
05:27
October 1st, 1931
After a private celebration the night before with an early peek, the Waldorf-Astoria officially opens its doors at its new location.
Headlines and ads for the new hotel splash across several national and international newspapers.
2,000 people gather in the Grand Ballroom to listen to a radio address.
From the White House, President Hoover’s broadcast praises the opening of the grand hotel as a mark of progress, growth, and hope for the future. Hoover himself will later visit the hotel in 1933 for his farewell speech and likes the hotel so much, he will live there for the next 30 years.
Along with the Rigal murals and mosaics in the Park Avenue foyer, the Sert murals quickly become one of the most celebrated attractions and alleviates any lingering quarrels over the use of non-American artists. Sert’s dramatic, opulent, and Goyaesque designs receive much praise.
One newspaper features another Sert in-law and Princess Mdivani – actress Mae Murray dining in front of one of the Waldorf-Astoria’s new Sert murals.
06:37
Over in Texas, a nearly bankrupt hotelier prepares to lose another hotel. The aftermath of the Wall Street Crash has not been good for him. He has already lost 3 of his 8 hotels with more soon to fail. When he opens the newspaper and sees an announcement for the Waldorf-Astoria Hotel now located on Park Avenue in New York City. And yet at this moment, the disheartened young businessman finds hope. He cuts out the ad and places it in his wallet. He vows to own that exact hotel one day.
And one day he will, almost 2 decades later he gains first management then eventually all rights, and his son will eventually buy the land rights under the hotel.
A later photo features the businessman now older under a canopy entrance with a reference to the Sert Room. That man is Conrad Hilton.
07:39
[Music – It’s the Talk of the Town by Ambrose, Album The Great Dance Bands Play Hits of the 30s]
Section 2 – History & Historiography
[Music Fade Out]
07:53
The more things change, the more they stay the same. History has its cycles as people change, develop, and yet somehow repeat past, present, and future patterns.
The Waldorf-Astoria definitely follows that tradition. In May 1929, the original Waldorf-Astoria closed its doors. It was built during a feud between a man considering himself to be the new head of the family dynasty William Waldorf Astor and his famous socialite queen bee Aunt Lina also known as Caroline Astor. Their side by side brownstones torn down to build two separate competing hotels the Waldorf on Willy’s side in 1893 and the Astoria on Caroline’s in 1897.
The hotels are joined as the rift is mended between the two cousins Willy and Caroline’s son Jack – aka Colonel John Jacob Astor IV, who died the richest man on the Titanic and is the father of Vincent Astor, Princess * “Ava” Alice Astor Obolensky, and “Jakey” John Jacob Astor VI. The Astor family would later sell the hotel to the manager George Boldt. The Colonel would continue building other hotels later owned by his son Vincent and managed by son-in-law Prince Serge Obolensky.
09:11
For nearly 30 years, the Waldorf-Astoria in its German Renaissance design served as a center for elites, but in the latter decade with Prohibition and more luxury hotel competition including by the Astors, its dated style went out of vogue, and the doors closed. The name Waldorf-Astoria was then sentimentally sold to then manager Lucius Boomer for $1. Almost as soon the announcement of the final closing, a surge in interest escalated and plans for a new building began. Boomer comes out of retirement to build and manage the next one.
As the original location and buildings are torn down for the Empire State Building, over off Park Avenue construction begins for the new Waldorf-Astoria in an art deco style. Much care and thought are put into the new hotel like the old one. And architect Leonard Schultze goes abroad to recruit talent for parts of the hotel. He is criticized for not hiring more Americans, but Schultze instead opts to commission one person considered to be on the best interwar period artists – none other than Spanish painter Josep Maria Sert who lives in Paris.
10:18
By 1931, Sert is one of the most famous painters in the world and considered one of the two best at murals. We have mentioned him a few times before as he is the husband of Prince Alexis Mdivani’s sister Princess Roussie Mdivani.
The beautiful, enigmatic, and cunning Princess Roussie Mdivani is an artist and sculptress in her own right. But where she is a true master is in sculpting the destiny of her brother Prince Alexis. Mesmerizing and magnetic Roussie casts a spell over the Mdivani’s in-laws. Even Sert’s first wife Misia Sert fell in love with her and stepped aside giving Roussie the marital bed. In 1927, Sert and Misia divorce to the disapproval of their circle as Misia is a much beloved muse, patron, and friend to artists including Coco Chanel. Sert then marries Roussie at the Hague in 1928. However Sert, Roussie, and Misia continue living in an odd menage a trois situation. At the time of our immediate story, Roussie’s youngest brother Alexis has recently married Louise Astor Van Alen – the great granddaughter of Caroline Astor and cousin to the other Astors previously mentioned.
11:29
As I have noted, I have been developing this story over several years. In configuring who is who to tell the larger tale and the importance and relevance to each other, I was struck by one article that described several elite locations but randomly gave all the signifiers needed as to who should be kept in mind as these tales unwind and entangle yet again.
The Atlanta Constitution in its August 12th, 1934 Who’s Who and Why and Where column describes several socialites and associated hotspots relevant to our ongoing characters within this series. In Newport, there are the Dukes, Van Alens, Astors, and Vanderbilts. Onto Southhampton and Palm Beach with Huttons & Marjorie Merriweather Post, Stotesburys, more Vanderbilts, and particular mention of the Cosden’s Playa Riente with its Sert murals and now owned by Anna Dodge Dillman. Then onto to Bar Harbor with even more Vanderbilts, Rockefellers, and Fords. A list of notable wealthy families and then the artist Sert highlighted catches my attention, especially knowing his marital connections. Hint for those new to these stories, there will be more connections in the nearish future created by a scandal orchestrated by Roussie. But that is saved for later in our timeline…
12:46
Sert was born in Barcelona, Spain in 1874. He would study art in Rome and eventually settle in Paris. He befriends many of the famous painters of his era including Salvador Dali. In 1900, Sert is commissioned to paint the interior murals of the Vic Cathedral, which took nearly 30 years to complete. Hit with a multitude of delays and setbacks, the original commission deadline ran out and gets extended over and over. In July 1936 during the Spanish Civil War, fire will destroy parts of the cathedral including his works. Sert will return to restore the paintings throughout World War II and for the rest of his life.
13:24
Meanwhile he paints a multitude of other works that gain him more popularity.
By 1910, Sert focuses more on murals. He designs several sets for Russian Sergei Daighilev and the Ballet Russes in Paris.
By 1924, Sert is so popular he receives a few commissions for private homes in America and a special exhibition at the Wildenstein Galleries. During the exhibition’s trip, Sert and his then wife Misia are feted for 10 days in the United States. The exhibition features several of Sert’s work: the cartoon tapestries designed for the King Alfonso XIII of Spain along with a few more samples from other projects for Baron Edmund de Rothschild and Sir Philip Sassoon, and lastly a set of 9 mural panels featuring Sinbad the Sailor.
Joshua Cosden hires Sert to create the Sinbad the Sailor panels for the Palm Beach mansion known as Playa Riente. During the period of our stories, Playa Riente is owned by wealthy widow and recently remarried Anna Dodge Dillman.
Sert produces many works in his native Spain as well as Europe and occasionally America.
*Forewarning I will have trouble with several pronunciations but will do my best.
14:33
Additional Sert works in his native Catalonia include:
· 1908 – the Lost Steps Hall of the Barcelona Courthouse
· 1910 – ballroom at the residence of Marquis of Alella on La Rambla
· 1917 – allegories of World War I for Charles Deering at his Maricel de Sitges Palace
· 1927 – paintings of a Catalan theme for Francesc Cambo home in Barcelona
· 1929 – Barcelona City Council’s Chronicles Hall
· 1933 – 2 panels on Spanish-Moorish subjects for Raul Roviralta and his Santa Clotilde de Lloret de Mar estate
15:12
Outside of Catalonia, some of Sert’s works include:
· 1920 – dining room of the Maruises of Salamanca in Madrid
· 1920 – dresser of Queen Victoria Eugenia in the Magdalena Palace in Santander
· 1920 – Baron de Rothschild in Chantilly
· 1922 – the honor ladder at the Duchess of Elchingen palace
· 1924 – Maurice Wendel salon
· 1924 – the Trent Park ballroom of Sir Philip Sassoon
· 1924 – Cosden mansion Playa Riente
· 1924 – 9 panels for Harry Phipps in Pittsburgh
· 1932 – the oratory of Lliria Palace for the Dukes of Alba
· 1934 – the walls of the convent at the San Telmo church in Donostia – San Sebastian
· 1935 – the Venice palace of Prince Alexis Mdivani
· 1935 – 1936 – the Council Chamber of the League of Nations in Geneva, the walls & ceilings with themes of War and Peace, Progress of Humanity, Justice, and International Law
· 1937 – 16’ by 41’ American Progress at Rockefeller Center, replacing the Diego Rivera’s prior mural which prominently featured Lenin in the center, and that Rivera refused to remove despite John Rockefeller, Jr. and Nelson Rockefeller’s requests
· 1942 – financier Joan March’s residence in Madrid
· 1944 – financier Joan March’s palace Palma, which features elements of the Spanish Civil War glorifying Franco’s defense of the Palace
16:42
Shortly before the October 29th, 1929, Wall Street Crash, Sert is commissioned to paint the future Waldorf-Astoria hotel murals for a rumored 6 figure salary. They will become a draw for the hotel so popular the Sert Room is named for them.
Unfortunately during the hotel’s 1972 remodeling, the murals are removed and sold to an old Catalan industrial bank known as Bankunion in Spain. In 1982, that bank then went bankrupt. When I first went down the trail of trying to currently locate the 15 panels 2 years ago, it seemed as though the murals had been lost. However a more recent search yielded delightful results.
17:20
After purchasing the Sert panels, Bankunion housed them in the El Sucre building in Vic, and upon bankruptcy Hispanic American Bank bought the works and moved them to Ciudad Grupo Santander in Boadilla del Monte. The 15 Sert panels are now located and displayed in Banco Santander Foundation. Links included in the Notes section.
Banco Santander Foundation’s art collection
https://www.fundacionbancosantander.com/en/culture/art/banco-santander-collection
Sert Collection in the National Art Museum in Catalonia
https://www.hisour.com/sert-room-national-art-museum-of-catalonia-54689/
Once celebrated far and wide and much sought after, Sert’s artistic touch will soon quickly fade from memory and into relative oblivion to most of the world.
17:51
Still like a voice whispering from the past, art is the one thing that can last long beyond the life of the artists and their patrons.
Yet remnants still linger on, ever so often reappearing and reminding us that life without art can be rather dull. But the art of life is something much harder to master. And like an underpainting, so many shades and layers are left to be revealed beneath the surface.
Despite life’s complications, several of our heirs and heiresses will gather impressive art collections during their lifetimes. But as the Robert Frost poem says – Nothing gold can stay. Will they too inevitably fade from memory?
18:32
[Music – Just As Long As The World Goes Round And Around by Jay Wilbur, Album The Great British Dance Bands]
Section 3 – Contemporary & Personal Relevance
[Music Fade Out]
18:47
An artist’s touch is valued for what they can make us see on the surface and for what we feel deep inside. Only that touch once so brilliant can also fade away, or worse if seen used for the wrong ends be turned against and intentionally erased.
And so with all this talk about the back then popular and seemingly prolific painter Sert, a question arises as to why we know so little about him now?
One, his style of painting which was more traditional, incorporated realism with using photography to study details and perspective, and a highly decorative style that fell out of favor with postwar critics wanting more abstract and modern innovative techniques. For the rest of his relatively short life, Sert remains firmly committed to his art form despite the contemporary changes.
19:32
Another reason, Sert attracts a lot of attention which also comes with envy and scrutiny. While personally, he could lean a little conservative as expected of his Catalan industrial gentry upbringing, he is also very cosmopolitan and accepting of broad culture. This means he had a somewhat controversial and charismatic persona for the era. Definitely, his unconventional lifestyle with Misia and Roussie causes a stir.
Thirdly, another Sert will also rise in prominence and overshadow in modern thought – his nephew, famous architect, city planner, and former Dean of Harvard Graduate School of Design Josep Lluis Sert.
20:11
And lastly and likely even more influential, it might come down to a semi cancel culture type reaction to the painter Sert’s later years. Sert’s popularity means many people and institutions courted and praised his work. Not really showing high political or ideological attachments, Sert worked openly for whichever buyer came along. He accepted the changes in regimes, which for 20th Century Spain meant some fairly drastic changes.
When the monarchy is in power, Sert would be a monarchist. Several articles detail his relationship with the last Spanish King Alfonso XIII. When Spain became a Republic, Sert is republican. And in his last years, he is a Francoist during Francisco Franco’s regime. The latter association now heaps moral objections towards the artist.
21:02
The truth is likely Sert wanted to continue to paint, and he might have been more pragmatic about the circumstances rather than sticking with ideological dogma. The destruction of the Vic and the murder of several of his friends would also likely impact his views and need for security. His later life focuses on restoring the cathedral of Vic, which was heavily destroyed by the 1930s Spanish Civil War. Very attached to this legacy, Sert will continually work on this up to the end of his life in 1945.
Oh how quickly brilliance can dim and go back into the darkness. Our heirs and heiresses are shining brightly but only for so long. As the Great Depression lingers on, everyone gets pulled into the shadows, and things are only going to get worse.
21:49
There is just so much history that seems to be lost and so much art left to explore. I would like to recommend two YouTube channels I find ever delightful. Links will be available in the Notes section and transcripts.
21:02
Forgotten Lives features 12-15 minutes videos on a variety of interesting subjects, including various royals, wealthy socialites. So many delightful tales from around the world and revisiting the familiar and unfamiliar. Most recently, they have featured episodes on Barbara Hutton, Doris Duke, Marjorie Merriweather Post, and Alva Vanderbilt.
Forgotten Lives channel – https://www.youtube.com/c/ForgottenLives
Barbara Hutton – https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PLRsV5paVSE
Doris Duke – https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SuOLql-OySc
Marjorie Merriweather Post – https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JcxM-4utAoU
Alva Vanderbilt – https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eza21m9JXTg
22:23
Recently I discovered another YouTube Channel Art Deco which explains the art history and dynamics of other famous paintings and works of art in 8-12 minutes. Little twisted details and motives make these artworks come alive in a whole new way.
Art Deco channel – https://www.youtube.com/c/ArtDecoTV
Once again, those YouTube channels are Forgotten Lives and Art Deco.
Please see social media for As The Money Burns for the photos of Conrad Hilton and Mae Murray
If you enjoy As The Money Burns, then please share, like, & subscribe.
Hook
22:56
[Music – My Heart Belongs to Daddy by Billy Cotton, Album The Great British Dance Bands]
Next when we return to AS THE MONEY BURNS…
Money can lead to dangerous outcomes. A generous gift one year leads to a triple homicide decades later.
Until then…
Credits
23:12
AS THE MONEY BURNS is an original podcast written, produced, and voiced by Nicki Woodard, based on historical research. Archival music has been provided by Past Perfect Vintage Music, check out their website at www.pastperfect.com.
Please come visit us at As The Money Burns via Goodpods, Twitter, Facebook, or Instagram. Transcripts, timeline, episode guide, and character bios are available at asthemoneyburns.com.
23:46
THE END.