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Frederick Charles Stahr (b. 1876 Manhattan. – d. Stapleton, Staten Island, NY 1946) was the mural artist for the Staten Island Borough Hall. He lived as a youth on Staten Island. He later studied art at the National Academy of Design, where he won the Lazarus Prize, a four-year course in art at the Academy of Design in Rome. He studied at the Royal Academy of Rome and in Munich, Germany, from 1910-11. On his return to New York, he moved back to Staten Island, where he spent the remainder of his life. Stahr became an instructor at Columbia University. He also taught at the National Academy of Design and tutored privately. He received many mural commissions, including the ceiling of the United States Treasury; the 'Court Scene' in the Newark, NJ, courthouse and the 'History of Manhattan' at the Manhattan Hotel. He worked on the ceiling of the Metropolitan Opera House and assisted in mural decoration at the Ottawa railroad station. He worked in courthouses in Baltimore, Chicago and Boston. In 1904, during the construction of the construction of the Staten Island Borough Hall, Stahr presented his idea, of painting murals commemorating the history of Staten Island, to the architects Carrere & Hastings. He was promised the commission, but a lack of money stopped the work. Thirty-two years later, through the Works Progress Administration (WPA), Stahr was awarded the commission to paint 'the Evolution of Staten Island.' Stahr had an office in the building. It took him two years to complete the 13 murals, which were installed in 1940. He was a member of the American Academy of Design and the National Academy of Design. Links to slideshows mentioning Frederick Charles Stahr: LOCATION: New York City, New York --- SITE: Bay Ridge & Staten Island  |
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