Mogul agrees not to buy Tiffany-Parrish mural

PHILADELPHIA, July 30 (Reuters) - Casino mogul Steve Wynn has agreed
to let Philadelphia keep a glass mural designed by Maxfield Parrish,
crafted by Louis Tiffany and regarded by critics as a public art
treasure, officials said on Thursday.

Wynn had originally agreed to pay more than $5 million for the
15-by-49 foot mural ``Dream Garden'' from an estate that was being
liquidated. But news of the planned sale sparked a public outcry and
fervent behind-the-scenes lobbying effort members of the local art
community.

The early 20th century artwork was commissioned by the late magnate
Cyrus Curtis, publisher of The Saturday Evening Post and The Ladies
Home Journal, for the marble lobby of his corporate headquarters near
Independence Hall.

There it has remained since 1916 and the agreement with Wynn means it
will stay in the city, although details of who precisely will own it
were not immediately clear.

``I'm ecstatic. It's really fabulous that they were able to stop the
piece from leaving the city,'' said Laura Griffith, assistant director
of the Fairmount Park Art Association, one of several groups that had
urged officials to halt the deal.

Regarded by critics as a masterpiece, the mural represents the only
known collaboration between Tiffany, the American craftsman of
decorative glass, and Parrish, a Philadelphia-born painter who became
the leading commercial artist of his day.

Two years ago, the Parrish oil painting ``Daybreak'' sold for $4.3
million at Sotheby's auction house in New York.

``Dream Garden'' depicts a densely wooded Mediterranean mountain
landscape with rugged trees and a brilliant blue sky.

Tiffany reproduced Parrish's oil paint design by using more than
100,000 pieces of iridescent glass in 260 colour shades.

Wynn, who heads Mirage Resorts based in Las Vegas, was not available
for comment. He had anonymously agreed to buy the mural from the
estate of late developer John Merriam.

The deal had been shrouded in mystery and news of the sale emerged
only early last week.

Almost two-thirds of the proceeds would have gone to the the
University of Pennsylvania, Bryn Mawr College, Pennsylvania Academy of
the Fine Arts and the University of the Arts.

City officials said Wynn's decision to back out of the deal followed
discussions with Mayor Edward Rendell, whose political campaigns have
been backed by the casino mogul.

Rendell said he would ask the Philadelphia Historical Commission to
certify the mural as a historic object to protect the work from future
sale.


Copyright 1998 Reuters Limited



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