Joyanna Adams

Siegfreid Reinhardt, The History of Space, and the Drummer Girl

Nobody Remembers:

If you have ever spent time at Lambert Field International Airport in St. Louis, you might have seen the huge long mural on the wall, painted by Siegfreid Reinhardt. Siegfried was a famous American painter that lived her in St. Louis, taught at Washington University. He was featured in Time and Life and has pictures at the Vatican. His ART was called superrealism. I remember seeing the full mural of the History of Aviation, AFTER we had become friends. And a few years after he died. He died in 1984.

And he was my dear friend.

Here’s a taste of that mural:

I was thinking about him today. I met him in a bar called “NINO”S which was in a mall, years ago. I was with my girlfriend, and had a wee too much to drink (which for me is about 3 glasses of anything) sitting at a small table in the middle of the room, laughing with Nancy, and he was there visiting his friend NINO, who was also an artist. We all used to hang out at the bar. Nino played Spanish guitar.

I used to go to Siegfried’s house, and play his piano downstairs. His house was covered with drawings and pictures and he had a weiner dog named Heidi that he would yell German commands at. I thought it was the funniest thing.

He also used to come watch me play drums in whatever band I was in, and always gave me lectures to “PROMOTE” myself. Of course, I was…pretty humble about myself..and didn’t take his advice, but I really adored him. Even though he kept trying to date me, I thought he was too old for me. One time we had a small fight and he said to me “Your too sensitive.” He was right. But he was older than me and I think I was coming out of a bad love affair. So, he drew my picture…and put me holding my drumsticks, and I told him I wanted a horse in it, and a necklace with a basketball on it. “My heart has been bounced around too many times.” I told him. So, he did that! Much to my surprise. He drew it, put me at the end of a book he published called FROM ALMOST ANYWHERE, and gave the original to me.

And it came with a poem.

I lost contact with Seigfried. He was a giant of a man, with a big German chest and voice and huge hands. His paintings are about as original as you can get.

I went to his funeral, and to my surprise there were only about 5 people there. I broke out sobbing, and went into the bathroom. Nobody there knew who I was. And the fact that no one else was crying really pissed me off. Go figure.

Today, this Nobody Wonders, If Siegfried were alive, what historical mural would he draw about today?

NASA, SpaceX, Mission to Mar? Star Wars…etc….

I think he would need a better canvas, don’t you?

December 17, 2023 Posted by Joyanna Adams | Uncategorized | Art, graffiti, mural, murals, photography | Leave a comment