May 7, 2012

Cincinnati Union Terminal

Check out the huge, magnificent social realist murals by German-American artist, graphic designer and interior designer F. Winold Reiss (1886–1953) depicting Cincinnati workers and industries.  They are composed of nickel-size glass mosaic tiles.  Reiss also traveled extensively in the American West and produced a series of portraits of Native Americans.  His work in Harlem during the 1920's reflects an interest in jazz and African-American culture.  (The rotunda [architects Alfred Fellheimer and Steward Wagner] is the largest semi-dome in the western hemisphere. Architect Paul Philippe Cret designed the art deco interior.)

photographs by rex weil