Located in the area of the Hollywood Bowl, is the 1988 mural that was painted as a memorial to the successful research that controls AIDS, entitled “Blue Moon Trilogy,” that we restored for the city of Los Angeles this last month. Obviously, it’s in the middle of Hollywood and only a few blocks away from the epicenter of “Old Hollywood” along Hollywood Blvd. and Vine and the Chinese Theater, once designated as the Grauman’s Chinese Theater. In fact during the time we were working there, there were a couple of red carpet openings for new movies where they shut down the streets and bring out the lights and the crowds. Although we didn’t participate, it was fun to see. Here’s a picture of the Chinese theater in it a day and what it looks like today.

On the other side of the same parking lot we were using during our project, was an old ranch style building that turned out to be the very first movie studio in Hollywood and the famous Director Cecil B DeMille had his office in this building. If you’re curious look him up on wiki but he was very famous for the movies Cleopatra (1963) and The 10 Commandments (1956)!

The 1^st Movie Studio in Hollywood

During a pause in our work on the mural, I wandered over to the historical museum and had a chat with the curator. As you can imagine, he had lots and lots of stories to tell. When he was pulled away for a meeting, I wandered through the exhibition areas and enjoyed looking at the collectibles in the collection of items that are so familiar to everyone who has seen these movies.

Scott Haskins with Cecil B. Demille’s Creations

The Samson and Deliah poster reminded me of an very large original work of art by illustrator Norman Rockwell that Anthony Christensen, a friend and client of ours, proudly shows in his gallery at Fine Art and Antiques in Salt Lake City.

Also, invitated to help with the Hollywood blockbuster, The Ten Commandments, was another illustrator, Arnold Friberg whose original work we have also seen at Fine Art Conservation Laboratories. This is one of many sketches produced by Arnold Friberg during his collaboration with DeMille and Academy-Award-Winning costume designer Edith Head. This sketched scene is for “Joseph Interpreting the Dream of Pharoah” also at Anthony Christensen Fine Art and Antiques in SLC, Utah.

Taking care of collectibles and restoration questions? Call 805 564 3438 Scott M. Haskins and Virginia Panizzon, Art Conservators