Artist Graham Foster’s epic mural depicting the history of Bermuda inside the towering pillared hall of Commissioner’s House at Dockyard has wowed locals and visitors—including the Queen—since it opened in 2009. Now a spectacular book published by the National Museum of Bermuda showcases the unprecedented 1,000-square-foot artwork in 208 dazzling full-colour pages.
Hall of History: Bermuda’s Story in Art is a coffee-table book, literally, as its impressive 14-by-14-inch dimensions might be tricky to fit on an average bookshelf. But its size allows for in-depth exploration of Foster’s magnificent illustrative style, through which he has brought the island’s 500-year human past to life with poignant, and sometimes hilariously irreverent, detail—from the Age of Exploration to the reinsurance towers of today.
Every inch of the giant mural is reproduced, including graphic features of flora and fauna, historic and contemporary personalities, milestone events from Bermuda’s past, plus loads of nostalgic flashbacks and folkloric asides. A four-panel foldout at the back of the book dramatically recreates the four walls of the mural itself, giving readers a visual sense of how Foster let the story unfold. The book also describes the artist’s creative process to produce the mural—a feat that took him three-and-a-half years.
Hall of History: Bermuda’s Story in Art is now available at local bookstores for $65.
Photography courtesy of the National Museum of Bermuda
