Items tagged with 'Nelson Rockefeller'

Today's moment of art

ESP art Untitled by Fritz Glarner section

This is just the middle portion of "Untitled." Here's a view of the the whole work.

A lot of the art on display in the concourse of the ESP can be an acquired taste. But we liked this 1968 mural by Fritz Glarner from first glimpsing it. The work covers a wall in the Abrams Building opposite a series of windows the look out into the Vietnam Memorial courtyard.

Maybe it feels more alive because it gets natural light.

Glarner was an immigrant from Switzerland. His style was influenced by the work of Mondrian, who was a friend. (See it now?) About five years before creating the mural above he was commissioned by Nelson Rockfeller to design the dining room of Rockefeller's NYC apartment -- the panels he created for that project were later sold during the 1980s, and are now part of a museum collection in Zurich.

The mural in the Abrams Building was commissioned for the ESP. And according to placard for it, the work was created in three sections and then attached to the wall, "specifically placed to complement its surroundings." It ended up being Glarner's last mural. He died in 1972 at age 73.

A dance with the princess

Check it out: It's film clip from the 1959 ball at the Washington Ave Armory honoring then Princess Beatrix of the Netherlands. The clip includes of the princess dancing with Nelson Rockefeller. We came across the video today via The Albany Muskrat, who you should be following on Twitter.

Other than the hey-how-about-that factor, so what? Well, the Princess Beatrix's visit is said to have been the catalyst for Rockefeller to push for the creation of the Empire State Plaza, because the condition of the city embarrassed him as he and the princess toured the city. (A later visit from Danish royalty apparently had a similar effect.)

Beatrix was in Albany as part of a tour of the Hudson Valley for the 350th anniversary of Henry Hudson's voyage up the river. The 21-year-old princess arrived in the city via 65-foot yacht, and disembarked looking "radiant in her gray shantung dress with matching hat and belt."

(there's more)

The Scoop

For a decade All Over Albany was a place for interested and interesting people in New York's Capital Region. It was kind of like having a smart, savvy friend who could help you find out what's up. AOA stopped publishing at the end of 2018.

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