Object Timeline

1928

  • Work on this object began.

1990

  • We acquired this object.

2011

2013

2015

2016

2017

2024

  • You found it!

Drawing, Design for Roof Garden, Hotel Gibson, Cincinnati, OH

This is a Drawing. It was designed by Joseph Urban. It is dated 1928 and we acquired it in 1990. Its medium is pen and black ink, brush and watercolor, white gouache, gold paint, graphite on yellowish paper, laid down on tissue paper. It is a part of the Drawings, Prints, and Graphic Design department.

Austrian emigrant Joseph Urban left his mark as an architect, decorator, stage designer, and illustrator. In this jewel-like rendering of his design for the since-demolished Hotel Gibson, Urban’s concurrent emphasis on both individual details and holistic design, no doubt a reflection of his varied professional work, is evident in spades. Notable as well is Urban’s inclusion of numerous figures, suggesting an emphasis on the room’s function as a space for entertainment and social interaction and underlining the human component of decoration.

This object was featured in our Object of the Week series in a post titled Dining Under the Stars.

It is credited Museum purchase through gift of Carola Walton in memory of her mother Dorothy S. Teegan.

  • Side Chair (USA)
  • painted wood.
  • Gift of Dorothy S. Teegen and Carola Teegen Walton in memory of Otto J. Teegen.
  • 1985-13-1

Our curators have highlighted 6 objects that are related to this one. Here are three of them, selected at random:

Its dimensions are

H x W: 22 × 32 cm (8 11/16 × 12 5/8 in.)

It is inscribed

Inscribed in graphite, along lower margin: HOTEL GIBSON CINCINATI [sic] OHIO ROOF GARDEN JOS URBAN 1928

Cite this object as

Drawing, Design for Roof Garden, Hotel Gibson, Cincinnati, OH; Designed by Joseph Urban (American, 1872–1933); Austria; pen and black ink, brush and watercolor, white gouache, gold paint, graphite on yellowish paper, laid down on tissue paper; H x W: 22 × 32 cm (8 11/16 × 12 5/8 in.); Museum purchase through gift of Carola Walton in memory of her mother Dorothy S. Teegan; 1990-126-1

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

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If you would like to cite this object in a Wikipedia article please use the following template:

<ref name=CH>{{cite web |url=https://collection.cooperhewitt.org/objects/18633977/ |title=Drawing, Design for Roof Garden, Hotel Gibson, Cincinnati, OH |author=Cooper Hewitt, Smithsonian Design Museum |accessdate=25 April 2024 |publisher=Smithsonian Institution}}</ref>