Mural
Richard Haas, 1993
In 1993, the Pittsburgh Cultural Trust commissioned renowned American muralist Richard Haas to create a striking homage to Pittsburgh’s historic steel industry. Located on the Fort Duquesne Boulevard façade of the Byham Theater, the mural exemplifies Haas’s mastery of trompe l’oeil—a technique that employs highly realistic imagery to create the optical illusion of three-dimensional architectural elements on a flat surface.
Haas’s design ingeniously incorporates the theater’s existing doors and windows, seamlessly blending painted details with real architectural features to produce a dynamic and immersive visual experience. Reflecting on the complexity of the project in a Pittsburgh Post-Gazette interview, Haas described the mural as "one of the most complicated façades I've done," underscoring the technical and artistic challenges involved in transforming the theater’s façade into a monumental work of public art.
About the Artist
Richard Haas (b. 1936, New York, NY) is a pioneering figure in the field of architectural muralism, celebrated for his large-scale trompe l’oeil paintings that transform urban environments. Since the 1960s, Haas has created murals across the United States and internationally, redefining architectural façades with illusions that engage viewers in a playful dialogue between reality and representation. His work can be found on buildings in cities such as New York, Chicago, and Boston, and has been featured in exhibitions at the Smithsonian American Art Museum and the Museum of Modern Art. Haas’s murals celebrate architectural history, urban identity, and the possibilities of public art to enliven cityscapes.