An Einar Petersen mural from the Rosslyn Hotel.
A vendor on EBay has listed what is apparently one of Einar Petersen’s long-lost murals from the Rosslyn Hotel — in rather sorry condition. The price is Buy It Now for $5,000.
The Times said the five panels installed at the hotel were 9 feet by 19 feet and described this panel: “A stagecoach entering Los Angeles in a gay and lively way, horses and driver full of spirited action.”
ALSO: Mary Mallory on Einar Petersen
The vendor says:
Several decades ago, a friend of ours purchased 4 panels from an older California couple, (that moved to Montana) years ago. The story goes that they purchased them in the 1980’s when the old Hotel was being renovated. The whereabouts of the 5th panel is not known.
Our friend had them in a storage unit until about 7yrs.ago, when he put 3 on a local auction. He decided to keep the Stagecoach one because he liked & it was in the best condition. Also, it was the only panel signed by the artist, but he couldn’t make out the name, so never knew the identity of the artist.
The other 3 that went to auction were in very poor condition, but nonetheless, extraordinary paintings! (my opinion). I remember when first saw them being sort of awestruck & thought they must’ve been incredible when they were first unveiled at the Hotel. At the time, I wasn’t sure what I would do with them, and couldn’t afford to have them restored, so I didn’t buy them, but know the guy who did.
I never forgot about them, and finally purchased the Stagecoach one 2 yrs. ago. Unfortunately, it is in very poor condition. I had a professional art restorer look at it & he said COULD be restored, but would be expensive, so I am selling it.
As with anything on EBay, an item and vendor should be evaluated thoroughly before submitting a bid.
ladailymirror.com 
Just an FYI. I’ve had several pieces restored which were painted by important turn of the century California artists, the work done by a reputable firm in SF. This is in very compromised condition. I paid about $1k to restore something in better shape than this piece that was really worth restoring. Check liveauctioneers.com for value of the artist’s work. Canvas deteriorates. Not all of it is worth fixing.
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Nope. The canvas is actually in excellent condition.
I’ve had several restoration experts look at it & it was their opinion that it is worth restoring. Yes, it would cost money to do it.
Sorry, Jean, you haven’t seen it so you wouldn’t know.
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too bad no one in CA is interested in restoring this or the other existing panels(I know where all of them are) that are all here in MT.
They are definitely worth the effort; especially this stagecoach one that is signed!
Also too bad the “reporter” was too lazy to contact the person selling this mural to get the full story…firsthand….thought that’s what “reporters” do?
My photo that you copied & pasted looks pretty good, though! 🙂
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Horslver4 – are you still connected to this post? If so, email me at bradywestwater@gmail.com
Thanks
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