Tag Archives: Radio City Music Hall

Modernist Textiles of Radio City Music Hall

The Radio City Music Hall Marquee

The Radio City Music Hall Marquee

 

 

On Saturday March 12th, The Art Deco Society of New York offered its members a tour of the Radio City Music Hall. It was a great tour and included a trip into Roxy’s Apartment, which is usually off-limits. This was the first time I was in the theatre in over 20 years and the first time since its major restoration in 1999.

 

Erza Winter's "Fountain of Youth" Mural on the Grand Staircase of Radio CIty Music Hall

Erza Winter’s “Fountain of Youth” Mural on the Grand Staircase of Radio CIty Music Hall

 

I have always loved the Music Hall and I’m glad that it was saved from slated demolition in 1978. There are so many impressive features of the theatre, but what struck me the most on the tour was something that I have barely taken notice of before, the textiles. The carpets and wall coverings are masterworks of modernist design.

 

Industrial designer Donald Deskey won the commission to decorate the two enormous Rockefeller Center theatres, the International (soon changed to Radio City) Music Hall and the R.K.O. Roxy. Because the scale of the theatres were so large Deskey turned over the interior decoration work for the R.K.O. Roxy to Eugene Schoen. Deskey hired a team of modern artists to decorate various sections of the Music Hall. This team of artists included Marguerite Mergentine, Louis Bouche, Stuart Davis, Buk Ulreich, Yasuo Kuniyoshi, Witold Gordon and Ruth Reeves. Reeves had already collaborated with Deskey on furniture he designed for the Ypsilanti Reed Furniture Company. Reeves provided modernist textiles for the cushions, inspired by the artwork of Henri Matisse.

 

Ruth Reeves (1892-1966) painting "The History of Theatre" fabric wall covering.

Ruth Reeves (1892-1966) painting “The History of Theatre” fabric wall covering.

 

Ruth Reeves‘ textile design was influenced by cubism and that is clearly seen in her two works at the Music Hall. Still Life with Musical Instruments is probably Reeves most recognizable textile work. Comprised of very abstract and not so abstract representations of a guitar, banjo, clarinet, saxophone, accordion and harp in shades of gray, gold, rust, cream and black adorn the carpets in the Grand Foyer and its adjoining staircases.

 

 

 

Reeves’ other textile covers the entire rear wall and lower side walls of the auditorium. Titled History of the Theatre, it is executed in shades of browns and sepia.

 

Ruth Reeves' History of the Theatre fabric wall covering.

Ruth Reeves’ History of the Theatre fabric wall covering.

 

Donald Deskey designed several textiles located around the theatre. His vision in the Grand Lounge carries a “diamond” theme from the ceiling lights through the mirrored columns right down to the carpet.

 

 

Deskey was a master of using out of the ordinary materials to make a statement. Nowhere is this more true than in the second mezzanine men’s lounge. The walls are covered by aluminum foil (donated by the Reynolds Tobacco Company) wallpaper with brown figures depicting the growing and selling of tobacco. Entitled Nicotine, it is the perfect wall covering for the space.

 

 

 

The elevator bank off the Grand Lounge has a carpet that I will attribute to Ruth Reeves. If the  designer of this carpet was mentioned on the tour I have forgotten it and I cannot find any references in print or online about it. The reason for the Reeves attribution is the strong influence of Henri Matisse.

 

The carpet in the elevator lobby off the Grand Lounge. Possibly designed by Ruth Reeves.

The carpet in the elevator lobby off the Grand Lounge. Possibly designed by Ruth Reeves.

 

Some styles of carpets at Radio City Music Hall.

Radio City Music Hall carpets. The Grand Lounge, elevator lobby and the stairs leading down from the Grand Foyer..

 

Singing Women the auditorium carpet, designed by Donald Deskey.

Singing Women the auditorium carpet, designed by Donald Deskey.

 

Deskey added a fun, whimsical touch with his carpet Singing Women for the auditorium. In shades of cream and blue against a light brown background, it compliments Ruth Reeves fabric wall covering perfectly.

 

The walls of the first mezzanine men’s smoking room are covered in a canvas mural. Designed by Witold Gordon it depicts in a stylized, modernistic version of Maps of the World.

 

 

 

If Donald Deskey did not design the textured, brown and gold tokko (heavyweight jacquard decorative fabrics with large designs) wall covering in all the mezzanine promenades, he did approve its installation. The Deskey designed lighting fixtures harmonize perfectly with the wallcovering creating a warm glow over these spaces.

 

 

The Radio City Music Hall Stage Door Tour is offered daily 9:30 A.M. – 5:00 P.M.  If you love Art Deco and you haven’t been on this tour, make it a must do on your next trip to New York.

 

Anthony & Chris (The Freakin’, Tiquen’ Guys)

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Happy Birthday Donald Deskey

Donald Deskey in the second mezzanine's men's lounge at Radio City Music Hall.

Donald Deskey in the second mezzanine’s men’s lounge at Radio City Music Hall.

 

One hundred and twenty-one years ago today (November 23rd) in Blue Earth, Minnesota a man was born, who for over half a century was one of the top industrial and interior designers in the world. Donald Deskey studied architecture at UC Berkeley, but never practiced it. After college he studied art in Paris and attended the 1925 Exposition Internationale des Arts Décoratifs et Industriels Modernes which was a huge influence on his design asethetic. Returning to New York he started a design consulting firm and was first noticed for the windows he designed for the Franklin Simon Department Store on Fifth Avenue in 1926.

 

Franklin Simon Department Store - Wurts Bros. Photo Museum of the City of New York

Franklin Simon Department Store – Wurts Bros. Photo Museum of the City of New York

 

The following year Deskey formed a partnership with Phillip Vollmer. The firm of Deskey-Vollmer designed very modernistic furniture and textiles. Below are some examples of their collaborative work.

 

 

During this time, the late 1920’s & early 1930’s, Deskey landed some very important interior design commissions. His clients included Mrs. John D. Rockefeller, Jr. and Adam Gimbel. Deskey was an innovator of using metals such as copper and aluminum for wall covers and ceilings, which he first displayed in 1928 at the American Designers Gallery exhibition in New York.  He then employed similar decoration schemes in the in the Gimbel apartment.

 

Donald Deskey - "Man's (Smoking) Room at the American Designers Gallery, New York, 1928.

Donald Deskey – “Man’s (Smoking) Room at the American Designers Gallery, New York, 1928.

 

 

Adam Gimbel Apartment - Donald Deskey, 1929

Adam Gimbel Apartment – Donald Deskey, 1929

 

 

The Bedroom of Mrs. John D. Rockefeller, Jr.

The Bedroom of Mrs. John D. Rockefeller, Jr.

 

 

In 1931 the partnership of Deskey-Vollmer came to an end. That same year Deskey competed and won the largest commission of his career, the interior design for the Radio City Music Hall. This also included designing the private office of Samuel “Roxy” Rothafel, the theatre impresario who was manager of the two Radio City theaters. Of all the private, interior design work Deskey did during this period, Roxy’s office is the only one that survives to this day.

 

 

Deskey made good use of unusual materials in his decorating the Music Hall, such as aluminum foil wall paper  and cork in the men’s second mezzanine and men’s first mezzanine lounges, respectively. Below is a gallery of some of the wonderful moderne rooms that he created.

 

Grand Foyer

Grand Foyer

 

 

The Radio City Music Hall was very nearly demolished in 1978 and was saved from destruction at the eleventh hour. In 1999 the theatre was restored so audiences can still be thrilled by the magnificent sunburst auditorium and its interiors of what is arguably Donald Deskey’s greatest achievement.

 

Radio City Music Hall Auditorium

Radio City Music Hall Auditorium

 

Between 1933 and 1935 Deskey designed for the Widdicomb furniture  Company of Grand Rapids, Michigan. His collaboration with Widdicomb proved to be his most prolific furniture creation of his career and more of these pieces survive to this day and can be purchased at auctions or high-end dealers of Art Deco.

 

 

 

In the 1940’s he started a graphic design firm, Donald Deskey Associates. If you are not familiar with any of his modernistic furniture designs you are certainly aware of his graphic designs, such as the Tide bullseye first used in the late 1940’s or the Crest Toothpaste packaging. This firm also created the aluminum New York City street light, that became the city’s standard in the 1960’s.

 

 

 

My first contact with Donald Deskey’s Art Deco work was when I was a boy. Between the ages of 7 and 14 I was taken to the Radio City Music Hall numerous times and although I was not aware that the furniture that I was sitting on was designed by Donald Deskey, I knew I liked it and thought it special. Before that I was already familiar with the Tide and Crest packaging. As a collector of Art Deco items, I do not have many examples of Deskey’s work, it is usually priced way beyond my means. Probably the most affordable Deskey collectible is the 1939 New York World’s Fair souvenir book. These can usually be found anywhere from $20.00 to $50.00.

 

Donald Deskey New York World's Fair Book

Donald Deskey New York World’s Fair Book

 

My most prized Deskey piece (if it is actually one) is my Widdicomb desk. These desks usually had a metal plate inside one of the draws, my does not. The desk I have might have been refinished or repaired over the years, which would also explain the missing brushed chrome back plates on the handles. If it is not an actual Deskey-Widdicomb desk, it is a great reproduction and it was cheap enough to not pass it up.

 

 

 

As long as Chris and I hit the road looking for Art Deco objects, we will always be looking to find items designed by Donald Deskey and the other great industrial designers of the 1920’s & 1930’s.

 

Anthony & Chris (The Freakin’, Tiquen’ Guys)

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Happy Birthday Radio City Music Hall

6th Avenue & 50th Street

6th Avenue & 50th Street

Eighty two years ago today, December 27th, 1932, the Radio City Music Hall opened it’s doors. Originally named the International Music Hall, but changed, before it opened, to honor Rockefeller Center’s largest tenant, NBC, which would move to the RCA Building directly across the street a few months after the Music Hall opened; and like NBC the Music Hall was also owned by an RCA subsidiary, RKO. This was the largest theatre in the RKO chain. Managed by famed theatrical impresario Samuel Rothafel (1882 – 1936), better known as Roxy, had a string of successes in New York City movie theatre presentations, starting with the Regent at St. Nicholas Avenue and West 116th in 1913.  In 1931 he  Rockefeller Center Corporation hired him to helm the two huge theatres they were building, the Radio City Music Hall and the smaller and now demolished RKO Roxy Theatre.

 

The southern facade of the Music Hall, showing the Hildreth Meiere Medallions "Dance" and "Drama".

The southern facade of the Music Hall, showing the Hildreth Meiere Medallions “Dance” and “Drama”.

In Roxy’s plans for the two theatres the RKO Roxy was the movie stage show theatre, while the Music Hall would be high-class two a day Vaudeville. It was a cold and rainy opening night and the theatre was still half empty at the scheduled curtain time of 8:15. Roxy held the curtain till just before 9:00 when the massive show started. A show that included Ray Bolger, Weber and Fields, De Wolf Hopper, A Ballet Corp, the Roxyettes (later rechristened as the Rockettes), and many others and songs by Dorothy Fields and Jimmy McHugh and Harry Ravel and Mack Gordon. By intermission it was very obvious that something was wrong and the show was running very late. By the time the curtain came down on the second act it was almost one in the morning. More than half the audience had left long before the end of the show and Roxy collapsed and had to be carried from the theatre on a stretcher.

 

While theatre itself was an artistic triumph with interiors created by one of the top industrial designers of the time Donald Deskey (1894 – 1989), the vaudeville policy was not. The theatre was just too massive for the intimacy necessary for successful vaudeville. While recuperating in the hospital, Roxy was removed as the artistic director of the Music Hall and the new management instituted the movie stage show policy that was a proven success. On January 11, 1933 The Bitter Tea of General Yen, would be the first film shown in the Music Hall. And movies and stage shows would continue in the theatre for the next 45 years.

 

With the end of the movie stage show policy in April of 1978, it was announced that the Radio City Music Hall would be demolished. Luckily at the eleventh hour the theatre was rescued from destruction and became a special events venue. It hosts everything from rock concerts, to the Tony Awards and of course the Christmas Spectacular. A restoration in 2000 brought back many details and furnishings that had been removed or altered over the years. Already restored were the Meiere medallions, the story of their creation and restoration is at art conservator, Steve Tatti’s, blog – click here to read the story. If you have never been in the Radio City Music Hall, make sure to take a tour the next time you are in New York City.

Chris & Anthony (The Freakin’ Tiquen’ Guys)

 

 

The southern facade of the Music Hall, showing the Hildreth Meiere Medallions "Drama" and "Song".

The southern facade of the Music Hall, showing the Hildreth Meiere Medallions “Drama” and “Song”.

 

 

 

 

 

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