Photo by Cheryl Gerber
Union Terminal Conrad Albrizio Mural
This is, in our estimation, one in a list of thirty marvelous places, flavors, events, and experiences that anyone who lives in—or loves—our part of the world should experience at least once in his or her lifetime.
Back in 1954, when passengers from across the country stepped off trains in New Orleans into the lobby of the Union Passenger Terminal, there was a lesson in Louisiana history to greet them. Just below the ceiling floated four massive frescos—the work of noted muralist Conrad Albrizio. Each depicted a different historic age for Louisiana: Exploration, Colonization, Struggle, and Modern. This project turned out to be the most monumental in a career that saw the New York-born artist create many pieces of public art that continue to ornament Depression-era buildings throughout Louisiana. They include fresco panels in Louisiana’s New State Capitol Building, the Louisiana State Exhibit Building in Shreveport, the DeRidder Post Office, and the New Iberia Courthouse, among others. Executed in fresco, Albrizio’s mural work depicts iconic scenes from American history, agriculture and industry, as well as traditional religious and social customs. He was LSU’s first painting professor—a fact well known to anyone who ever took an LSU English class. The Allen Hall Murals were painted in 1939 by Roy Henderson, a graduate student of Conrad Albrizio who was schooled in the artist’s style.
Restored in 2010, Albrizio’s Union Passenger Terminal frescoes (pictured here) have been returned to their original condition and can be seen in New Orleans at 1001 Loyola Avenue. LSU Museum of Art has forty works by Albrizio, including several studies for the mural at the State Capitol (much of which no longer exists) and twenty-two studies for the frescoes at the Union Passenger Terminal. Works by Albrizio can also be seen in the Louisiana State Capitol building and the Louisiana Supreme Court Building in New Orleans.
