tromp-l'oeil in the american wing at the Metropolitan Museum of Art

 In one of the new classical galleries developed in consultation with architect Thomas Gordon Smith the influence of the Alsop house (of 1838 from Middletown, Connecticut) is apparent in the tromp-l'oeil oil on plaster surface decoration by painter James Langley. Here the walls have been given a warm ochre shade to resemble limestone ashlar with a grisaille painted frieze of classical winged genii and acanthus volutes. 

"With the redesign of these rooms, we have created a building that allows us to show the collection in many different ways well," commented Morrison Heckscher, the Lawrence H. Fleischman Chairman of the American Wing. "The new galleries provide a sympathetic backdrop for historical material. And period rooms and settings representing two centuries of American furnishings are now arranged in a logical, chronological progression, from the colonies to Frank Lloyd Wright."