To those who do not have the knowledge of the history behind the Dream Garden Glass Mosaic, it may seem as if it is just another artwork...an astonishing one but still, just another piece of art that someone came up with. A mosaic of a beautiful garden. To Philadelphia charter bus rental tourists who are more informed and art lovers who have read up about the history of the Dream Garden Mosaic, it is a historical one and it ought to be protected. In fact, there was a time when a Las Vegas casino owner named Steve Wynn bought the beautiful mosaic up and fully intended to bring the mosaic painting to his casino but a furor was raised by some local historians and art lovers. The objections saw them raising more than $3.5 million from the Pew Charitable Trusts to the Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts in an effort to stop Wynn from moving the piece of work from the Curtis Publishing Company’s building lobby. Was their bid successful? Indeed, it was because it received a lot of love and support from art and history lovers who knew the history of the 15’ by 49’ artwork.
The artwork is the brainchild of Maxwell Parrish who lived well and ripe till 1966. Parrish is a beloved American painter and illustrator who is distinctively known for his idealistic and neo-classical pieces of work. He also worked a lot with saturated hues which makes his artwork stands out all the more. But Maxwell Parrish wasn’t the one who actually excuted the Dream Garden...it was commissioned out to Louis Comfort Tiffany who is the owner of the renowned Tiffany Studios.
While Parrish is known for his unique outlook and imagination, Louis Tiffany was an artist and designer who was more known for his talent in working with decorative arts and stained glass, in particular. He was a man who made bold moves in the Aesthetic Movements and perhaps, some might associate him with Art Nouveau. Unlike Parrish, Tiffany is well-rounded and exceptionally friendly with big names in the art world like Candace Wheeler, Samuel Colman and Lockwood de Forest.
According to sources who knew the two artists, they shared a tumultous relationship at best and because of their differing styles and outlook about the end-result but the most important thing for art lovers is that it got done and the creativity and imagination that went into the final end-product was astonishing all the same. It had Parrish’s creative imagery and Tiffany’s amazing attention to detail.
There are no words to describe the artwork really but once you have viewed it with your own eyes, all other paintings and mosaic work is going to pale in comparison. The problem for some of our Philadelphia charter bus rental customers was finding the entrance to the building where the artwork is housed and timing. Timing - because it is a commercial building, it is not open during the weekends and your charter bus rental visit would have to be during working hours.
And despite all of that, this painting is most definitely worth the trouble, even if it is just a glimpse that you caught.
