Mural, Mural on the Wall

You are anchored on a clipper ship in Hong Kong Harbor. You sit astride a camel near a lush oasis. You stand with a patriot as he heroically fights for America’s freedom. You sip a cocktail next to two rabbit gentlemen.

No, you haven’t had one too many.

You have simply been drawn in by a mural. And murals, whether hand-painted or applied as wallpaper panels, are having a very big moment. Why? Because they offer an exotic escape, a fantastic refuge. They remind us of more innocent, peaceful times as we move through our schools, town halls, and libraries, where, in the 1930s, WPA (Works Progress Administration) artists painted optimistic, heroic depictions of our nation’s history and future. They provide amusement while one enjoys cocktails in Bemelmans Bar, surrounded by whimsical animals (rabbit gentlemen) frolicking in nearby Central Park, as painted by Madeline author Ludwig Bemelmans in 1947.

“Murals can really create space fantasies,” says interior designer Sandra Morgan, who has studios in Vero Beach and Greenwich, Connecticut.

Since the 1700s, when wallpaper murals were first created in France, homeowners have lined or painted their walls with scenes that tell stories, that immerse one in narratives of beauty, exotica, Orientalism, nature, history, whimsy, and reverie. Sometimes there is a personal connection, such as an interpretation of the surrounding landscape. Sometimes it is total fantasy. And sometimes it is a fantastical solution to a design problem, such as a windowless room. A mural creates depth and dimension, bringing the outside in and taking us out of ourselves.

“I’m so busy it’s unbelievable,” says Vero Beach muralist Barbara Sharp, whose work over the past 40 years has included yachts, corporate jets, and commercial establishments, but mostly private homes. “Each home is so different. I finished a mural in grisaille in Palm Beach—a big Renaissance design with giant shells, 6-foot-tall grotto fish, and a big dolphin,” she says.

In Winter Park, Sharp says, “We just did a big house, walls navy blue, chairs emerald green; I did giant flowers—each flower 3 to 4 feet across—up the wall, across the ceiling, and part way down the wall.”

A dining room in Orchid Island has “a very Charles Gracie look, with palms, orchids, and frangipani on a very soft aquavit ground.”

“Many of my clients will see a wallpaper, but it’s not the scale or color that they want,” Sharp explains. “I’ll take elements from a fabric, get all the swatches of the room, and pull all those elements together. If there’s wallpaper that someone loves, I can paint on top of the wallpaper to make it whatever you want.”

Sharp occasionally collaborates on projects with Elizabeth Read Pusser, co-owner of Oodles of Wallpaper in Vero Beach. Says Pusser, “Murals are very popular today. Every wallpaper company has their own renditions of murals. Traditionally sold by the panel, they can range at the low end for $150 a panel all the way up to $2,500 a panel and even more.”

Pusser advises that, when dealing with panoramic scenes, it is best to order sequential panels for continuity of design. Murals are in Pusser’s blood; her great-great uncle was the famous 1920s artist and muralist Claggett Wilson, who was admired by Matisse. Pusser’s uncle, the graphic artist Claggett Wilson Read, resides in John’s Island and Darien, Connecticut.

While some may regard the exquisite murals by the great houses of de Gournay, Gracie, and Zuber as being ultratraditional, integrating well-curated modern elements creates a fresh energy and a totally different, immersive experience.

“I love that juxtaposition—a traditional mural in a dining room that rocks a really modern chandelier,” exclaims Gigi Bair of Hayes Kendall Design House in Vero Beach. “It’s powerful!”