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 12^th, 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 29^th, 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?