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Homage to Seurat: La Grande Jatte in Harlem
Rescue Public Murals is pleased to announce the completed restoration of Homage to Seurat: La Grande Jatte in Harlem, the last remaining New York community mural by Eva Cockcroft (1936-99) that was originally painted in 1986.
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Left wall of the mural before and after restoration. Photos by Camille Perrottet |
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Thanks to the support of Friends of Heritage Preservation, a private charitable group that seeks to promote cultural identity through the preservation of significant endangered artistic and historic works, artifacts, and sites, the mural once again provides a colorful backdrop to the Hope Steven Garden.
The restoration would not have been possible without the help of lead artist Janet Braun-Reinitz, a colleague of Cockcroft’s who has painted over 50 murals in the United States and abroad. She worked in collaboration with muralists Rochelle Shicoff and Maria Dominguez and three assistants from local arts organizations: Alexandra Unthank from Harlem Arts Alliance, Jessica Guzman from CAW4Kids (Creative Arts Workshop), and Ariel Mercado from Children’s Art Carnival. New York City conservator Harriet Irgang Alden of Rustin Levenson Art Conservation consulted on the project.
Rescue Public Murals assessed the condition of Homage to Seurat in September 2007 and coordinated restoration in partnership with Hope Steven Garden, Manhattan Land Trust, Trust for Public Land, and Urban Green Builders Management. Golden Artist Colors has also provided support for the project.
After being exposed to the elements for more than 20 years, Homage to Seurat had markedly faded and the paint was beginning to flake away. This was caused in part because the wall was not primed before painting. Research is ongoing about whether the mural was sealed on completion, but if it was, little evidence of it remained and the lack of a top coating also contributed to the mural’s degradation. Samples of the original paint are being studied by the Winterthur/University of Delaware graduate programs in art conservation and the Getty Conservation Institute in Los Angeles. Preliminary findings have shown how Cockcroft overpainted some areas of the wall with different colors, confirming what the restoration team found as they worked on the mural.
The artists used Cockcroft’s slides that were taken when the mural was completed in 1986 and presented the most accurate depiction of the colors. "Working slowly, we mixed the darkest background blue, the most prominent brighter green, and the lightest color, a pale yellow green, thus recreating the range of colors of the original mural. The accuracy of each additional color was not only measured against these colors and the original visuals, but also with the neighboring colors and the flow of colors across the mural," reflects Braun-Reinitz. Approximately 100 hours were devoted to the faithful matching and mixing of more than 70 colors, over 30 of them green. Some colors were easily produced, others took longer. A sky blue required three hours to achieve an accurate hue.
The American tradition of outdoor community murals—collaborations between artists and neighborhood groups—began in the late 1960s and over four decades has contributed vibrant landmarks to cities and towns across the country. As the years have passed, many of these fragile artworks have deteriorated markedly. In addition to Homage to Seurat, Rescue Public Murals has brought artists and conservators together to assess the condition of endangered outdoor murals in Atlanta, Chicago, Philadelphia, Santa Fe, El Paso, Minneapolis, Los Angeles, San Diego, and San Francisco and is planning to work with these communities to secure the funds necessary to restore them.
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Click here for additional information on the mural.
Click here for the project press release.