The Frescoes of Conrad Albrizio - by Carolyn A Bercier (Hardcover)

Book Synopsis

The artist Conrad Albrizio (1894-1973), a New York City native who studied internationally, made his home in New Orleans for more than a half century. To the people of Louisiana and Alabama, he bestowed the lasting gift of large-scale public frescoes, a form he championed long after the general popularity of communal art waned. From regional realism in his New Deal-commissioned works of the 1930s to his abstract-influenced, socially conscious interpretations of the 1950s, Albrizio's creations exemplify the midcentury period while showcasing the ancient technique of fresco. In this lavishly illustrated volume, Carolyn A. Bercier analyzes Albrizio's frescoes against the backdrop of the artist's life. In her introduction, Elise Grenier, who has restored several of Albrizio's murals, acquaints readers with the demands of painting in fresco, a method also employed by Albrizio's contemporaries the Mexican muralists.

By 1936, Albrizio had completed six fresco panels in the Louisiana State Capitol and his first federally funded mural, in the DeRidder, Louisiana, post office. That same year he joined the faculty of Louisiana State University's new department of art, where his students depicted him within their murals in Allen Hall. Albrizio continued his fresco commissions for another eighteen years, including scenes in the post office in Russellville, Alabama; the State Fair Exhibits Building in Shreveport, Louisiana; the Capitol Annex Building in Baton Rouge; and the parish courthouse in New Iberia, Louisiana. His culminating accomplishments are an epic cycle portraying shipping, the elements, and the constellations in the lobby of the Waterman Building (now Wachovia Building) in Mobile, and a monumental rendition of Louisiana's history in the New Orleans Union Passenger Terminal.

Both visually lush and richly informative, The Frescoes of Conrad Albrizio pays deserved homage and brings fresh awareness to the under-recognized public murals of a passionate and prolific artist of the twentieth century.

Review Quotes

A New Yorker by birth, Conrad Albrizio was an adopted son of the South and heir to Michelangelo in fresco painting. Carolyn Bercier analyses his love for this medium and his studies to perfect his technique. She places the artist in perspective with the country's social and political climate during his career. As Albrizio's technique and compositions became refined, his crowning achievement was in the Union Passenger Terminal in New Orleans. This beautifully illustrated book is essential for all lovers of fine art.--Judith H. Bonner, senior curator and curator of art, The Historic New Orleans Collection

Carolyn Bercier's The Frescoes of Conrad Albrizio explores the stories behind the historic murals Albrizio created to decorate the walls of public buildings across Louisiana and Alabama during the Great Depression and in the decades that followed. She describes how his skills in ancient fresco and mosaic art forms set his work apart from other muralists then working in Louisiana. The Frescoes of Conrad Albrizio is a masterful journey into the life, legacy, and artistic triumphs of, arguably, mid-twentieth-century Louisiana's foremost mural artist.--John R. Kemp, art columnist for Louisiana Life and associate editor of A Unique Slant of Light: The Bicentennial History of Art in Louisiana

Conrad Albrizio's range of public works across Louisiana, and beyond, and his long tenure at LSU School of Art make this richly illustrated survey of Conrad Albrizio's career as a muralist long overdue. Carolyn Bercier's research and art historical lens combines with Elise Grenier's fresco expertise and conservation experience to document Albrizio's public works--the artist, the process, and the wider social and artistic context in which Albrizio's mural style developed.--Courtney Taylor, curator, LSU Museum of Art

About the Author

Carolyn A. Bercier is a retired museum curator. She worked in New Orleans at the Louisiana State Museum and at Hermann-Grima/Gallier Historic Houses.

Elise Grenier has restored and conserved artworks throughout the world. She did advanced studies in Italy at L'Università Internazionale dell'Arte e Restauro and the Associazione Intercomunale Fiorentina before founding Grenier Conservation LLC.