Crowning the top floor of the Fine Arts Building in Chicago is Grover’s shimmering mural “Scherzo”, which was installed in January of 1906*. The perched figure on a flowery bluff engages a cherub and parrot, as the skylight above casts natural light on the scene.  

“Scherzo” is an Italian word meaning jest, that also describes a musical motif or composition. This title reminds us that Grover became fluent in Italian and also bumped shoulders with James McNeill Whistler, who habitually named his paintings as musical compositions: Nocturne: Blue and Silver; Symphony in White No. 1; Arrangement in Black and Gold.

Perhaps even more influential in guiding his naming convention for this mural, was the fact that Marie Louise Rolshoven, Grover’s wife, was a talented pianist and frequently filled their home and studio gatherings with piano music.

* “Art and Artists,” Chicago Evening Post, 1/20/1906, p.5.