Heritage Auctions, 445 Park Avenue, New York, NY
May 8–9, 2025
This year’s Initiatives in Art and Culture conference, Crafting the Dream, gathered leading voices in American art to explore the relationship between artistic vision and skilled craftsmanship. Among the sessions was “Mosaic as a Medium for Women and the Modern,” an exploration of how two pioneering artists—muralist Hildreth Meière (1892–1961) and mosaicist Jeanne Reynal (1903–1983)—transformed mosaic from a historically decorative tradition into a medium of modern expression.
The session was co-presented by Kathleen Murphy Skolnik, art historian, adjunct faculty member in the Department of Art at Roosevelt University, and board member of the International Hildreth Meière Association (IHMA); and Jennifer Samet, New York City-based art historian, curator, and writer; faculty member at The New York Studio School and Senior Director at Eric Firestone Gallery. Following their presentations, they joined moderator Lisa Koenigsberg for a discussion that explored how Meière and Reynal brought innovation and technical mastery to a field historically dominated by men. Through their dialogue and engaging audience questions, it became clear how each artist embraced mosaic to pursue distinct visions—Meière within public architectural commissions, and Reynal within modernist abstraction.
Skolnik illuminated the legacy of Hildreth Meière, one of the first American women to integrate mosaics into monumental architectural spaces. From the radiant Byzantine-inspired domes of St. Bartholomew’s Church in New York to the bold abstraction of the Red Room at One Wall Street, Meière’s work redefined how mosaics could serve modern architecture while maintaining timeless visual power.
“But mosaic does not belong only to the past—it is a great modern medium, with its great beauty of texture and color and its absolute permanency—it offers decorative possibilities to the modern architect and designer.”
—Hildreth Meière, Women’s City Club Magazine, September 1939
A particularly poignant moment in the session focused on the Nebraska State Capitol—a unique architectural site where both Meière and Reynal’s works are featured, decades apart. Meière’s narrative mosaics, completed in the 1920s and 1930s, cover the floor, ceiling, and arches of the Capitol’s foyer as well as the vestibule and rotunda. In the 1960s, Reynal was commissioned to create an abstract mosaic in the same building, installed in the foyer. Although Meière did not live to witness Reynal’s commission, the juxtaposition of their mosaics within the Nebraska State Capitol offers an unanticipated dialogue between two distinct periods and practices in American mosaic art.
Samet discussed Reynal’s contributions as a modernist working in mosaic as a fine art medium rather than just architectural ornament. Her abstract compositions—rich with tactile and spiritual energy—expanded the boundaries of mosaic beyond traditional religious or narrative forms. Working from the 1940s through the 1970s, Reynal developed a bold, highly personal approach to the medium that situated her within New York’s modernist avant-garde. Her influences included Byzantine art, global travel, and the experimental ethos of her artistic peers.
The presentations and discussion underscored the conference’s central theme: the balance between aspiration (“the dream”) and discipline (“the craft”). For both Meière and Reynal, mosaic was never merely decorative—it was a medium through which they shaped meaning, structure, and enduring visual identity.
Crafting the Dream was supported by a range of generous sponsors, including leadership funding from the O’Brien Art Foundation and anchor sponsorship by Heritage Auctions, with additional support from art dealers, foundations, and media partners.
At the International Hildreth Meière Association, we are deeply grateful to Initiatives in Art and Culture for recognizing Hildreth Meière’s enduring contributions and for continuing to spotlight the often-overlooked impact of women in shaping the visual and architectural language of the 20th century.
All photos courtesy of the International Hildreth Meière Association
Kathleen Murphy Skolnik and Hilly Dunn
Lisa Koenigsberg, Jennifer Samet, Kathleen Murphy Skolnik
Kathleen Murphy Skolnik and Hilly Dunn
Nebraska State Capitol foyer featuring Hildreth Meière’s mosaics on the floor, arches, and ceiling. In the niche on the right, below the window, is a mosaic designed and installed by Jeanne Reynal.
About the International Hildreth Meière Association
Founded in 2004, the International Hildreth Meière Association (IHMA) inspires, educates, and preserves the legacy and works of artist Hildreth Meière. As the primary source for information on Hildreth’s life and works, IHMA has created exhibitions, publications, documentary series, tours, and lectures for the general public, educational groups, and the sites of Hildreth's commissions.
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