1675-42 Fontainebleau NO
mh02 HOTEL MURAL'S ARTIST TAKES ITS DEMISE PERSONALLY 11/11/2002
THE MIAMI HERALD
Copyright (c) 2002, The Miami Herald
DATE: Monday, November 11, 2002 EDITION: Final
SECTION: Local PAGE: 1B LENGTH: 91 lines
ILLUSTRATION: color photo: 2 photos: Fontainebleau before and after
demolition work (Both a)
SOURCE/CREDIT LINE: BY ANDRES VIGLUCCI, aviglucci@herald.com
HOTEL MURAL'S ARTIST TAKES ITS DEMISE PERSONALLY
The giant Fontainebleau Hilton Hotel mural that was crushed to bits last
week was a master conjurer's masterwork: a massive wall painted over with an
eye-popping depiction of the view the wall itself obscured.
But in the end, everyone concerned decided the real thing - the enveloping
curve of the original Fontainebleau Hotel, an older masterpiece by 30 years -
was the better choice.
So the wall came down, and with it the mural that many regarded as one of
South Florida's finest works of public art.
The condo/hotel that will rise in its place, Miami Beach planners say, will
frame a grand view of architect Morris Lapidus' famous hotel. The real one.
Richard Haas, the famed artist who created the mural 17 years ago,
understands all this. After all, his purpose in designing the mural was to
restore a view lost through an ungainly addition to the Fontainebleau.
But it didn't hurt any less when he learned it was destroyed.
"Like a death in the family, " Haas said Friday from his studio in New
York City. "It usually gets to you. It was a mural that had a long life. For
that I'm grateful, that it occurred in the first place.
"The sad thing is, once they go, they do get forgotten. "
Not completely. Haas' mural is preserved in books, postcards and countless
tourist photographs. The Fontainebleau's owners, the Muss Organization, which
commissioned the mural in 1985, also made a detailed photographic record of it
at the request of Miami Beach planners.
But fans of the work nonetheless lamented its demise.
One prominent art collector said no reproduction can capture the effect of
driving up Collins Avenue toward the six-story mural. Haas' signature
"trick-of-the-eye" technique gave the viewer the illusion, if only for a
moment, that the painted view was real.
"It was a very effective work of art, " said developer and art patron
Martin Z. Margulies. "It had a lot of depth. It gave that street a lot of
presence. "
Few are in a better position than Margulies, however, to know what often
happens to outdoor murals.
Margulies commissioned Haas to design a mural for the entrance of his
Bakery Center mall in South Miami. When it failed financially, Margulies sold
the center to new owners, who tore it down.
"The mural is paint. It's not removable, " Margulies said. "Unless there
is some kind of contract, I don't think the artist has an inherent right to
have the work preserved. "
Haas' indoor and outdoor murals grace courthouses and office buildings
across the country. There is one at the Smithsonian Institution in Washington,
D.C., and another at the Florida state Capitol in Tallahassee.
The artist chuckled ruefully when reminded that Miami has now lost two of
his murals. Actually, three: He designed a temporary construction wall that
condominium/hotel structure.
"Today when I came in here, it was like a huge void, a huge opening, "
said George Shaw, 24, a desk worker at the neighboring Sovereign Hotel.
"Everyone knows it. I don't think it should be taken down. "
By Wednesday afternoon, all that stood at Collins Avenue and 44th Street
were giant slabs of concrete and hanging steel. The remains of the mural made
famous in the opening credits of Miami Vice were being hauled away by big
cranes.
Peering through the gutted rooms of the building that used to be behind the
mural was the original exterior of the Fontainebleau itself, a 1954 Morris
Lapidus landmark that became home to the "Rat Pack" and thousands of
not-so-famous visitors.
NO HISTORIC STATUS
The Greek mural on the south wall of Miami Beach's most famous hotel was
created by artist Richard Haas with 150 gallons of paint in 1985. It did not
have historic landmark status.
It will not be rebuilt, despite a promise five years ago by the
architectural firm planning the new structure that it would rebuild a slightly
smaller version of the mural.
"The mural is out, " said Don Wolfe, an architect with Nichols Brosch and
Sandoval.
Instead, people driving north on Collins Avenue will see the famous Lapidus
Fontainebleau building through a space between the spa and the
soon-to-be-built structure just to the east.
When complete in a couple of years, the new building will accentuate the
Fontainebleau because its glass and stucco will tie into the existing
structure, Wolfe said.
TIME-SHARE UNITS
The building will house apartments that will be sold as condominiums and
rented like hotel suites when the owners desire. The units will start at about
$300,000. Five years ago, the cost was estimated at more than $100 million. On
Wednesday, no one would comment on current cost estimates.
The mural was one of the beach's most recognizable landmarks. . .
The hotel dates back to 1954, when a 15-story structure with 565 rooms
replaced the old Firestone estate, home of the tire dynasty. The hotel was
expanded later to 1,206 rooms.
BLOCKING THE SUN
When the neighboring Eden Roc was built in 1959, the Fontainebleau's owner
at the time, Ben Novack, built a 17-story "spite wall" on the north side of
the property to block the sun from the Eden Roc's pool.
In 1985, Haas built his mural.
A decade later, current owner Steve Muss proposed a hotel/condominium tower
next to the Fontainebleau.
Former Miami Beach Mayor Neisen Kasdin said construction delays were caused
by a number of factors. Tops among them were getting the state and the city to
move 44th Street slightly south, which has been done, and getting the city
Design Review Board's OK.
He said clearing a path for the property was contentious, more so because
of height restrictions than knocking down the mural.
Two grass-roots groups surfaced several years ago to fight Muss' move, but
both faded.
One of the leaders, who did not want to be identified Wednesday, said the
fight stalled for a simple reason: "The community was silent on the issue. "
The project was finally given approval in 1999 after developers agreed to
knock off 10 floors. And that's fine with Kasdin.
"That vista will be opened up again. I think it really will be better, "
he said.
re m'
•
"You'll be driving up Collins Avenue and will be staring at . . . one of
the great Lapidus works. "
KEYWORDS:
TAG: 0211080026
7 of 106, 8 Terms
mh02 BEACH LANDMARK BITES THE DUST 11/07/2002
THE MIAMI HERALD
Copyright (c) 2002, The Miami Herald
DATE: Thursday, November 7, 2002 EDITION: Final
SECTION: Local PAGE: 1B LENGTH: 18 lines
ILLUSTRATION: color photo: Giant slabs of concrete and hanging steel are all
that remain of the Fontainebleau Hilton's famous six-story "trompe l'oeil"
mural (a) , 1997 file photo of hotel (a)
SOURCE/CREDIT LINE: ANGELA GAUL/FOR THE HERALD
MEMO: Ran as a cutline
BEACH LANDMARK BITES THE DUST
Giant slabs of concrete and hanging steel, above, are all that remain
Wednesday of the Fontainebleau Hilton's famous six-story "trompe l'oeil"
mural of a giant arch, left. It was torn down to make way for a new
condominium/hotel structure. Story, 3B
KEYWORDS:
TAG: 0211080013