Alphonse T. Torán was born in Naples, Italy in 1898. After study in Italy, he moved to the U.S.A. and specialized in decorative murals for numerous hotels and businesses. He was the Director of both The Creative Studios of Art & Decoration (from 1935) and the Toran Creative Studios (1940-1960) in New York. Alphonse Toran also painted murals in the Oak Room of the Plaza hotel and many other places. According to sources there are many of his murals in the vault of the Waldorf Astoria, and maybe some day they will take them out!