Manhattan (Josef Albers mural)

Manhattan is a large scale mural by the German artist and colorist Josef Albers. The mural was first installed in New York city's Metlife Building, originally the PanAm building. Removed in 2001 during renovations of the building's lobby, the mural was rebuilt in 2019 according to Albers' original specifications.[1] It is now installed in the lobby of the MetLife building, and placed backwards at the summit of the escalators the modernist skyscraper and Grand Central Terminal. The work, 28 feet tall and 54 feet wide was created using formica in red, white and black and asbestos.[2]

History

In 1929 Albers, then at The Bauhaus in Germany, created a work called "City". Years later in the early 1960s after having emigrated to the United States and settling in New York City the architect and founder of the Bauhaus Walter Gropius commissioned him to do a mural for the then new PanAm Building (now the MetLife Building). Subsequently he worked his original design into the formidably sized "Manhattan". As Nicholas Fox Weber, Executive Director of the Josef and Anni Albers Foundation has explained “In making the mural, he took a concept he had developed at the Bauhaus in sandblasted glass, and gave it new life on a vastly large scale to serve the purposes of his friend and colleague, Walter Gropius, who designed the original building and asked him to make the mural. Naming it “Manhattan"....[3]

In 2001 the mural was taken down while the MetLife lobby was under ronvation. Therein some years earlier ownership of the structure had changed hands and moniker to MetLife and the new owner's citing repurposing of the lobby to allow for more light to enter doubled with the fact the mural had been found to be laden with asbestos took the work down without notice. This then led to somewhat of an uproar.[4][5]

In 2019 the new owners of the structure Tishman Speyer decided to reinstall the work in its original position. However as the murals was disassembled into panels which were laden with asbestos, the work had to be recreated. Fortunately Albers had left behind precise specifications that allowed for the work to be recreated.[6]

References
  1. Benezra, Neal David. The Murals and Sculpture of Josef Albers. Garland Pub. ISBN 978-0-8240-6873-8.
  2. Albers, Josef. Josef Albers: Minimal Means, Maximum Effect : March 28-July 6, 2014, Fundación Juan March. Fundación Juan March. ISBN 978-84-15691-74-7.
  3. http://artdaily.com/news/117068/Replica-of-beloved-Josef-Albers-mural--Manhattan--has-returned-to-original-home-in-lobby-of-200-Park-Avenue
  4. Vogel, Carol (July 9, 2001). "A Familiar Mural Finds Itself Without a Wall (Published 2001)" – via NYTimes.com.
  5. "MetLife Might Pass on Albers Mural". AP NEWS.
  6. Coleman, Nancy (September 23, 2019). "Once Removed and Destroyed, a Modernist Mural Makes Its Return (Published 2019)" – via NYTimes.com.
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