Hildreth Meière: The Art of Commerce

Hildreth Meière was a prolific muralist whose commissioned works adorn the walls and ceilings of public buildings from New York to California. Born in New York in 1892, Meière first studied art in Florence, Italy, where she discovered the frescoes and mosaics that were to inform her craft. Continuing her studies in New York, California, and Chicago, she traveled to Europe during the summers where she was introduced to les arts decoratifs, later to be known as Art Deco, of which she became an early exponent.

Some of Meière’s best known works are in New York City and include the Dance, Drama, and Song roundels that grace the limestone façade of Radio City Music Hall, the arch and ark mosaics in the Temple Emanu-El, and the red and orange glass mosaics in the Banking Room at One Wall Street. A versatile artist whose commissions were executed in glass and marble mosaic, tile, terra cotta, tapestry, leather, wood and metal, Meière understood that her success was in large part due to the positive collaboration she forged with corporate clients, architects, and the talented craftsmen who executed her works.

Hildreth Meière: The Art of Commerce highlights corporate commissions in New York, New Jersey, and Connecticut and includes paintings, wall sculptures, preparatory drawings, cartoons and gouache sketches, as well as photographs of finished commissions. Also included in this exhibition are the full-size cartoons for the mosaic in the lobby of the Travelers Insurance Company in Hartford, CT.