The forgotten painter whose murals define Manhattan's Gilded Age interiors
The painter behind Manhattan’s Gilded Age interiors
James Wall Finn (c.1866–1913) painted ceilings and walls in the Rose Main Reading Room of the New York Public Library, the Morgan Library, the Lyceum Theatre, and the Payne Whitney Mansion, yet almost no visitor knows his name. Trained at the École des Beaux-Arts under Gérôme, he worked closely with architects like McKim, Mead & White and Carrère & Hastings, imitating Tiepolo and Pinturicchio to serve their unified visions. Much of his work is lost, but his obscurity may have been exactly what he wanted.
Finn may well have considered his own obscurity, especially in contrast to his famous rooms, the sign of a job well done.