7. King Cole Mural at the St. Regis

John Jacob Astor had the now famed Knickerbocker Hotel built in 1906, and, as a part of its opening, commissioned Maxfield Parish to paint a large work for the interior. The work was to represent King Cole, from the British nursery rhyme. Parish and Astor got into a heated argument and the figure of King Cole is supposed to be very much representative of Astor. It is said that the figure has farted and those around him are attempting not to laugh. The Knickerbocker Hotel closed and in the 1930s the mural wound up in the King Cole Bar in the St. Regis Hotel. We included the bar on our list of places where a drink is served with a work of art.