Donald Deskey, Papier-Abfälle, Gelatin silver print, c.1925-30 More Information
Donald Deskey, Papier-Abfälle, Gelatin silver print, c.1925-30
DONALD DESKEY (1894-1989) USA
Papier-Abfälle c.1925-30
Provenance: The Estate of Donald Deskey
H: 9 7/8” x W: 7 15/16”
Framed: H: 22” x W: 18”
Donald Deskey was a native of Blue Earth, Minnesota. He studied architecture at the University of California, but did not follow that profession, becoming instead an artist and a pioneer in the field of Industrial design. In Paris he attended the 1925 Exposition Internationale des Arts Décoratifs et Industriels Modernes, which influenced his approach to design. He established a design consulting firm in New York City, and later the firm of Deskey-Vollmer (in partnership with Phillip Vollmer) which specialized in furniture and textile design. His designs in this era progressed from Art Deco to Streamline Moderne.
He first gained note as a designer when he created window displays for the Franklin Simon Department Store in Manhattan in 1926. In the 1930's, he won the competition to design the interiors for Radio City Music Hall. In the 1940's he started the graphic design firm Donald Deskey Associates and made some of the most recognizable icons of the day. He designed the Crest toothpaste packaging, as well as the Tide bullseye. His company is still in operation in Cincinnati. A collection of his work is held by the Cooper-Hewitt, National Design Museum. He is regarded the American pioneer of industrial design, and contemporary American graphic design.
Important Lucien Gaillard “Staghorn beetle” silver and gold inlay magnifying glass, signed c. 1900
Silver hand finished and repoussed in the form of a staghorn beetle with horns encircling the round magnifying glass, gold details
Signed: L. GAILLARD (engraved) on lower right leg, head of Minerva (950/1000 pure silver)
The staghorn beetle was a favorite form for Gaillard and the inspiration for many examples of his work including jewelry, vases and this magnifying glass. A variant model in cast bronze can be seen in the collection of the Musee d’Orsay in Paris.
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