At Home With Their Books
“At Home With Their Books” is a mural by Elena Climent installed in the lobby of the New York University Languages and Literature Building, located at 19 University Place, New York, NY. The mural, measuring 30 ft. wide by 10 ft. high and comprising six panels, is the artist’s largest work to date. Reading from left to right and presented in chronological order, it depicts intimate scenes of spaces in which famous New York City writers composed their well-known novels, poems, or essays. The writers are Washington Irving, Edith Wharton, Zora Neale Hurston, Frank O’Hara, Jane Jacobs, and Pedro Pietri.
“I left the writer out of the scene to give the impression that she or he will be back at any moment and allow the viewer to imagine the possibility of walking into the room,” said Climent.
The mural was Commissioned by the NYU Faculty of Arts and Science, and unveiled on May 1, 2008. Shortly thereafter a documentary about the creation of the mural was completed by Marcia Rock.