Alexander's - The Mural

The Mural

Alexander's' Paramus, New Jersey store, located at the crossing of New Jersey Routes 4 and 17 near Garden State Plaza, was famous for a mural painted for the store by Polish artist Stefan Knapp. George Farkas commissioned Knapp to paint the mural for the store, who did so after seeing Knapp's work at Heathrow Airport in London. At the same time, however, Spanish artist Salvador Dali had been commissioned to do a mural for the store as well and after he learned that Knapp was also hired to paint a mural, he demanded that he design the piece and Knapp paint it. Knapp refused, and a compromise was reached where Dali received his commission payment for not doing any work and Knapp would continue to compose the piece and two additional murals. When it was completed in 1961, the mural was the largest in the world, measuring 200 feet by 50 feet and weighing over 250 tons. It is still believed to be the largest, although no study has been done to corroborate that according to North Jersey Media Group as of 2012.

After Alexander's went out of business in 1992, the mural remained on the closed store until 1996. At that time, since no buyer had emerged for the property, Vornado elected to demolish the building so a new retail complex could be built on the land. On his way to work one morning Will Roseman, mayor of the Bergen County borough of Carlstadt and a fan of the mural, saw the demolition and contacted Vornado chairman Steve Roth, who gave him a week to come up with a plan to save Knapp's work. Roseman contacted Sotheby's, who appraised the work, then was able to find a non-profit group to take possession of the mural enabling him to use the moving costs as a tax write-off for Roth. The Bergen County Museum of Art and Science became the mural's caretakers and the piece was disassembled and stored in the Carlstadt municipal garage, where it currently sits as a decision on what to do with the enormous mural has not been made. Various suggestions have been made for its location, including American Dream Meadowlands in neighboring East Rutherford and Bergen Community College in Paramus.