Word: rubenstein
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Dates: during 1930-1939
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Finally nearing completion, the murals in the entrance hall of the Germanic Museum will be put on public view on Monday, December 21. The paintings were done by Lewis W. Rubenstein '30. In conjunction with the opening of the murals there will be an exhibition of the preliminary sketches and drawings for the work...
...Rubenstein employed the "true fresco" technique for the murals, a method used by the great Italian masters of the Renaissance. In this style the painting is done directly on the damp, freshly plastered wall. Since the plaster remains damp only for about fourteen hours, the artist must work quickly and must plan his work carefully day by day. He must plaster only as large an area as he can complete in a single day's work. The pigment employed in the "true fresco" technique is mixed with slaked lime and water, while the retouching of the various seams made...
Controversy over the symbolism intended by Lewis W. Rubenstein in his two murals in the Germanic Museum is ignorant and unfounded. The murals are both derived from old Norse legends, and the use of modern accessories to make the allegory more vivid has been twisted in ridiculous fashion by newshawks into a slam at Nazi aims and methods. Nothing could be farther from the truth than these inane shots in the dark...
...known as "The Twilight of the Gods". Here the final battle between Gods and Giants is taking place, with the Gods ranged on the left, armed with spears and halberds, facing the Giants on the right, who are fitted out with gas masks, cylinders and a flame thrower. Mr. Rubenstein is attempting to represent the attack of the Giants on Asgard, the home of the Gods, where such a great struggle took place that the earth trembled, and wiped out the existing race. This animated scene has been translated by commotion-seekers into the attack of Nazidom on the Church...
...Rubenstein had a definite message to convey when he undertook the two murals which have aroused such discussion. Both walls show the constructive and destructive forces of society opposed to one another, and may be classed as art in the highest sense, certainly detached from any suspicion of political significance...