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

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Object Timeline

-0001	We photographed this object. We photographed this object.
1932	Work on this object began.
1975	We acquired this object.
2014	We exhibited this object.
2024	You found it!

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

This is a Drawing. It was designed by Donald Deskey and from the office of Donald Deskey Associates and drafted by Donald Deskey. It is dated 1932 and we acquired it in 1975. Its medium is brush and brown, tan, and purple gouache, graphite on heavy cream wove paper. It is a part of the Drawings, Prints, and Graphic Design department.

Among Donald Deskey’s most impressive and memorable contributions to American design were his elegant interiors for Radio City Music Hall, one of the first projects that sealed his future fate as a leader in an emerging industrial design profession. Though Deskey — relatively unknown to average person at that time — was not well paid for the project, his contract was extensive in scope: He ultimately designed the music venue’s lobby furniture, wall coverings, lighting fixtures, railings, mirrors, and carpeting, such as the repeat pattern of stylized women’s profiles he created for the 5,901-seat auditorium. Called Singing Women, the wavy-haired, open-mouthed faces alternate in color between tan and purple forming a chevron-like arrangement. In 1978, the building was marked for demolition before gaining landmark status and a decade-long restoration began in 1990s. Thanks in large part to the Deskey Archives at Cooper-Hewitt and particularly this drawing dated 1932 — the same year Radio City opened to the public — an architectural team was able to accurately replicate Deskey’s original design using wool and nylon fiber to revive it to its original grandeur.

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

Telephone, Princess
thermoplastic case, steel base, electronic components .
Anonymous lender.
15.2013.8

Drawing, Design for Living Room, Frederick and Emily Gash Apartment, 305 West 57th Street, New York, NY

Drawing, Design for Living Room, Frederick and Emily Gash Apartment, 305 West...
brush and blue and green gouache, pen and brush and black ink, graphite on....
Gift of Donald Deskey.
1975-11-7

A playful design for a carpet using rectangles, circles, spirals and dots. Based roughly on a grid of 8 squares by 8 squares. Starting at upper left corner - an orange square with 6 small yellow circles inside (2 rows of 3, like dots on a domino) is connected horizontally by a solid yellow rectangle approximately 6 squares wide, to the upper right corner - a red square with an orange circle in the middle. This corner is connected vertically by a solid orange rectangle (6 squares tall) to the bottom right corner, a solid yellow square. This corner is connected horizontally by a red rectangle (6 squares wide) to the bottom left corner - an orange square with a yellow spiral inside almost to the edges. The bottom left is connected by a solid yellow rectangle (6 squares tall) to the top left corner square. These squares and rectangles form a border or “frame” around the interior field which is divided roughly into 3 horizontal tiers and 3 vertical tiers (like a tic tac toe board.) In the interior field each module is a box 2 squares by 2 squares. Starting from top tier, left module is solid red, adjacent to orange module bisected horizontally by a fat red stripe, adjacent to a yellow module also bisected by a fat red stripe (ie the stripe bisects both orange and yellow modules) Middle tier starts left with an orange module with a red spiral inside (to edges), adjacent to a solid orange module, adjacent to another orange module with a yellow spiral inside (to edges). Bottom tier starts with a yellow module with 9 small circles (3 rows of 3 dots) adjacent to a yellow module with a large orange circle (to edges) adjacent to a solid yellow module. Taken as a whole, one can imagine the two spirals in the middle tier as eyes, the circle on the lower tier as a nose and the dots on that tier as freckles. It looks like the face of a clown or a cute animal. The artwork appears drawn with graphite on tracing paper and then painted. Remnants of the pencil lines are visible. The tracing paper has some roughly torn edges, and some wrinkles and discoloration. In this image, some numbers appear “backwards” on the lower right margin. If one flips the entire image horizontally, they become legible ((1975-11-72)

Drawing, Design for Carpet
brush and yellow, red, orange gouache, graphite on tracing paper.
Gift of Donald Deskey.
1975-11-72

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Trade Catalog, The Armstrong Pattern Book, Design for Armstrong’s Quaker Linoleum Floor Covering No. 2750

Trade Catalog, The Armstrong Pattern Book, Design for Armstrong’s Quaker...
offset lithography on paper.
Collection of Smithsonian Institution Libraries.
SIL39088013461819

Drawing, Design for Floral Wallpaper or Paper for Screen

Drawing, Design for Floral Wallpaper or Paper for Screen
brush and gouache on silver foil paper.
Gift of Donald Deskey.
1975-11-75

Its dimensions are

62.1 x 104.9 cm (24 7/16 x 41 5/16 in.) Mat: 68.6 x 112.1 cm (27 in. x 44 1/8 in.)

It is inscribed

Inscribed in graphite, upper right: #2 [upside down] – Pattern #132; in graphite, lower left: Auditorium; in graphite, lower center: Bottom [erased]

Cite this object as

Drawing, Carpet Design: "Singing Women," Radio City Music Hall Main Auditorium, New York, NY; Designed by Donald Deskey (American, 1894–1989); Office of Donald Deskey Associates; USA; brush and brown, tan, and purple gouache, graphite on heavy cream wove paper; 62.1 x 104.9 cm (24 7/16 x 41 5/16 in.) Mat: 68.6 x 112.1 cm (27 in. x 44 1/8 in.); Gift of Donald Deskey; 1975-11-56

This object was previously on display as a part of the exhibition Making Design.

Short URL http://cprhw.tt/o/2CKxB/
Accession Number 1975-11-56
Object ID 18487013