Throwback: Mural provided a change of scenery for grand hotel

The Nicollet Hotel, 1947

Hennepin and Washington Avenues: This year the doors open for the RBC Gateway, a 37-story structure on the grave of the old Nicollet Hotel. The hostel traditions of the block will be carried forward by the Four Seasons. But will it have a peculiar mural of Important Historical Pointing?

The ballroom of the old Nicollet was renovated in 1947, and local artist Gustav Krollman was hired to paint a mural. Krollman, born in Vienna, came to the U.S. in the late '20s, and ended up teaching at the Minneapolis School of Art, now the Minneapolis College of Art and Design (MCAD).

It's a peculiar work. On the left, a nurse is bringing a small cup on a tray, perhaps an aspirin to the jackhammer operators in the foreground, or perhaps a chemical requested by the doctor, who's doing his experimenting outside that day. The skyline features a building that looks like the Foshay Tower if someone had described it over a bad phone connection.

In the middle, an engineer is talking to a fellow wearing a parachute, who might be saying: "I'm supposed to catch a plane around here, and — oh no, it's already taken off." The surveyor wants to direct everyone's attention to the guys who are breaking rocks and exposing the railroad tracks underneath.

On the right, an Indian guide is playing a trick on the pioneer by telling him the restrooms are right over that hill. (The kid's gotta go. Should've gone before they left Sweden.)

It's gone now. Some of Krollman's work survives: He did travel posters for the Northern Pacific Railroad, including a famous rendering of Old Faithful, as well as murals in private homes. He painted the original murals in the Uptown Theater. No, he wasn't Michelangelo. But the old masters didn't have to paint around enormous ventilator screens.