{"id":2350,"date":"2016-04-08T23:33:42","date_gmt":"2016-04-09T03:33:42","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.drivingfordeco.com\/staging\/3617\/?p=2350"},"modified":"2016-07-29T12:46:12","modified_gmt":"2016-07-29T16:46:12","slug":"radio-city-music-hall-textiles","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.drivingfordeco.com\/staging\/3617\/radio-city-music-hall-textiles\/","title":{"rendered":"Modernist Textiles of Radio City Music Hall"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"The<\/a>

The Radio City Music Hall Marquee<\/p><\/div>\n

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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.<\/h4>\n

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\"Erza<\/a>

Erza Winter’s “Fountain of Youth” Mural on the Grand Staircase of Radio CIty Music Hall<\/p><\/div>\n

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I have always loved the Music Hall and I’m glad that it was\u00a0saved from slated demolition in 1978.\u00a0There are so many impressive features of the theatre, but what struck me the most on the tour was something\u00a0that I have barely taken notice of before, the textiles. The carpets and wall coverings are masterworks of modernist design.<\/h4>\n

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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.<\/h4>\n

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\"Ruth<\/a>

Ruth Reeves (1892-1966) painting “The History of Theatre” fabric wall covering.<\/p><\/div>\n

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Ruth Reeves<\/a>‘\u00a0<\/span>textile design was influenced by cubism and that is clearly seen in her two works at the Music Hall.\u00a0Still Life with Musical Instruments<\/em> 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.<\/h4>\n

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