Drawing, Design for Carpet: Still Life with Musical Instruments, Radio City Music Hall, New York, NY

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See more objects with the tag commercial interior, music, theater, accordion, grid, guitars, saxophones, cubism, musical instruments, Radio City Music Hall.

Object Timeline

-0001	We photographed this object.
1932	Work on this object began.
1975	We acquired this object.
2002	We photographed this object.
2015	We photographed this object.
2016	We photographed this object.
2017	We photographed this object. We exhibited this object.
2022	You found it!

Drawing, Design for Carpet: Still Life with Musical Instruments, Radio City Music Hall, New York, NY

This is a Drawing. It was designed by Ruth Reeves and from the office of Donald Deskey and made for (as the client) Radio City Music Hall. It is dated 1932 and we acquired it in 1975. Its medium is brush and gouache, graphite on cream wove paper, lined. It is a part of the Drawings, Prints, and Graphic Design department.

In 1932, Deskey received his best-known commission, that of designing the interiors of Radio City Music Hall in New York City. An enormous undertaking, Deskey brought in many artists and designers to assist with the project. Ruth Reeves, whose wall-hangings Deskey had frequently used in furnishing his interiors, created textiles for the music hall’s interior. This carpet design adapts the cubist style of Deskey’s decorative screens and incorporates abstracted instruments—guitar, accordion, and saxophone—that suit the purpose of the hall as well as the spirit of the American jazz age.

This object was donated by Donald Deskey. It is credited Gift of Donald Deskey.

Drawing, Carpet Design: "Singing Women," Radio City Music Hall Main Auditorium, New York, NY

Drawing, Carpet Design: "Singing Women," Radio City Music Hall Main...
brush and brown, tan, and purple gouache, graphite on heavy cream wove paper.
Gift of Donald Deskey.
1975-11-56

Square drawing in gouache with an overall pattern design of what appear to be stylized, elongated guitars (shaped like stretched out figure-8’s) positioned at different angles. Most of the guitar bodies are cream with orange necks/fret boards and cream tuning pegs. A few have cream bodies and necks (no distinguishable fretboards) with orange tuning pegs. The background and the sound holes are chocolate brown. The ends of the guitar necks bend to their right. Some of the guitars are drawn in loose perspective with a part of one side or a bottom visible. The sides are rendered with simple orange accents which against the cream suggests some kind of shadow. There is a sense of musicality to the layout - the relative brightness (cream color) of the flat sinuous guitar shapes facing different directions comprise the main motif and keep the viewer moving throughout the pattern; the contrasting linearity of the necks and the orange accents create a sense of dynamism, and the sets of tiny tuning pegs (3 on each side of the neck) interspersed throughout the pattern are like delicate trills. The instruments seem cartoonish, with not realistic guitar proportions, however their various sizes, shapes, and positions serve to pleasantly fill the space.

Drawing, Textile Design: Violin Pattern
brush and gouache, graphite on paper, lined.
Gift of Donald Cameron.
1992-51-55

Drawing, Design for Carpet, Mezzanine and Second-Floor Restaurant, International Casino Stairway, 1530 Broadway, New York, NY

Drawing, Design for Carpet, Mezzanine and Second-Floor Restaurant,...
brush and brown and tan gouache, graphite on off-white illustration board,....
Gift of Donald Deskey.
1975-11-41

Our curators have highlighted 11 objects that are related to this one. Here are three of them, selected at random:

Drawing, Musical Trophies
graphite, pen and ink on paper.
Museum purchase through gift of various donors.
1901-39-1270

Drawing, Design for Carpet: Guitars and Cocktail Glasses for Radio City Music Hall, 1260 Sixth Avenue, New York, NY

Drawing, Design for Carpet: Guitars and Cocktail Glasses for Radio City Music...
brush and brown, tan and blue gouache, graphite on cream illustration board,....
Gift of Donald Deskey.
1975-11-43

Drawing, Design for Saks Fifth Avenue Advertising Brochure

Drawing, Design for Saks Fifth Avenue Advertising Brochure
pen and black ink, brush and black, gray wash, graphite on cream illustration....
Gift of Donald Deskey.
1975-11-59

Its dimensions are

H x W: 18.6 × 14.1 cm (7 5/16 × 5 9/16 in.) H x W (Mat): 45.7 × 35.6 cm (18 × 14 in.)

It is inscribed

Inscribed in graphite on verso, lower left: 12/x/18 width; in graphite by a later hand on verso, center: Ruth Reeves Radio City Music Hall

Cite this object as

Drawing, Design for Carpet: Still Life with Musical Instruments, Radio City Music Hall, New York, NY; Designed by Ruth Reeves (American, 1892–1966); USA; brush and gouache, graphite on cream wove paper, lined; H x W: 18.6 × 14.1 cm (7 5/16 × 5 9/16 in.) H x W (Mat): 45.7 × 35.6 cm (18 × 14 in.); Gift of Donald Deskey; 1975-11-73

We have 1 media file that features Drawing, Design for Carpet: Still Life with Musical Instruments, Radio City Music Hall, New York, NY.

"From Monday On," Bix Beiderbecke & Paul Whiteman and His Orchestra (1928)

Radio City Music Hall opened in 1932. Paul Whiteman’s Orchestra performed in a National Broadcasting Company (NBC) special program on November 11, 1933, celebrating the inaugural opening. Big...

http://www.folkways.si.edu/bix-beiderbecke-paul-whiteman-and-his-orchestra/from-monday-on/jazz-ragtime/music/track/smithsonian

This object was previously on display as a part of the exhibition The Jazz Age: American Style in the 1920s.

Short URL http://cprhw.tt/o/2CKE8/
Accession Number 1975-11-73
Object ID 18487391