38 queen city heritage - cincinnati history...

38

Winold Reiss: A Pioneerof ModernAmerican Design

Queen City Heritage

C. Ford Peatross

Cincinnati is especially fortunate in havingnot only one of Winold Reiss's most ambitious commis-sions, but also one of the few that survives, for the natureof most of his work in commercial architecture and interi-or design was necessarily ephemeral. As a public building,Cincinnati's Union Terminal is also exceptional in Reiss'swork, although the many restaurants, hotels, and shopswhich he designed were at one time a part of the dailylives of thousands of people. So prolific was Reiss, that by1940, not counting the Cincinnati station, in any one dayover 30,000 Americans lived, met, ate, drank, or wereentertained in a Reiss designed interior. TodayCincinnatians are alone in this privilege. "Masterpieces" ofarchitecture, landscape, and interior design too often lieoutside the paths of ordinary people. Historians of vernac-ular and commercial architecture are now directingincreasing attention to the transitory structures which con-stitute such an important part of our built environment,and which play significant roles in the quality of our lives.Although most of his work as an architect and interiordesigner has disappeared, during four decades of practiceWinold Reiss set a course that in considerable measurecontributed to and enlivened American design. This is anintroduction to that largely unrecognized journey.

The Atlantic liner S. S. Imperator docked inHoboken, New Jersey, on October 29,1913, bringing withit from Hamburg three ambitious young men: FritzWinold Reiss, Oscar Wentz, and Alfons Baumgarten; eachof whom played a role in introducing modern design tothe United States. One was a young, brash, energetic, andtalented artist fresh out of Munich, then one of Europe'sthriving art centers. Fritz Winold Reiss (1886-1953) waswell-prepared to make his mark in the New World.1

Trained by his father, the artist Fritz Reiss, and at both theRoyal Academy of Art, under the famous painter andsculptor Franz von Stuck, and the Kunstgewerbcschuh(School of Applied Arts), under the equally notable posterartist Juliez Diez, he represented the coming together oftwo great streams of artistic endeavor, the fine arts and

commercial art, that was a notable characteristic of histime. The professions of commercial and industrial designas we know them today developed out of this stimulatingconvergence. We are just beginning to study and to recog-nize the multiple contributions which Reiss made toAmerican architecture and design. He helped to preparethe way for figures like Raymond Loewy, Norman BelGeddes, Donald Deskey, and Walter Dorwin Teague,among others who established the United States as aworld leader in commercial and industrial design duringthe 1930s. In 1913, however, this country was on the dis-tant edges of the coming wave of change.

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C. Ford Peatross is curator ofArchitecture, Design andEngineering Collections,Prints and PhotographsDivision, the Library ofCongress where he is cur-rently directing a new projectto establish a center for

American Architecture,Design, and Engineering. Heis a member of the board ofeditors of Buildings of theUnited States and theOctagon Committee of theAmerican Institute ofArchitects.

Reiss studied at theKunstgewerbeschule (Schoolof Applied Arts), under thenotable poster artist JuliezDiez. (Figure #1)

Credits for the illustrations inthis article are listed onpage 57.

Summer/Fall 1993 A Pioneer of Modern Design 39

It is useful to observe that Reiss's educationin Munich's Kunstgewerbeschule reflected a turn-of-the-century optimism that artistic talent and energy could andshould be productively channeled to the creation of theobjects of everyday life; that the lives and work of artists,artisans, and workmen should be more connected; and thatboth commerce and the human spirit would profit fromsuch association. Riding the crest of the IndustrialRevolution, during the second half of the nineteenth andthe first half of the twentieth centuries, study and trainingin the applied arts were the object of considerable atten-tion in Great Britain, Europe, and, finally, in the UnitedStates, where industrial design ultimately emerged as anindependent profession. The career of Winold Reiss wascongruent with the birth of that profession from the seedsof the Arts and Crafts and Applied Arts movements. But itwas more. Reiss brought to his work not just the principlesand skills afforded by his excellent training, but his ownartistic talent, allowing him to create works whose energyand imagination continue to speak to us today, bringingboth pleasure and inspiration. The decorative vocabulary ofVienna's Secession movement, the bold colors and formsof German Expressionism, and the conventions andabstractions of African art, all evident in Reiss's early work,were to be transformed into something distinctlyAmerican.

From across the Hudson River, Reiss and hiscompanions were greeted by the daring new skyscrapers ofthe world's greatest city. Considerably less daring was NewYork's attitude towards modern art, notably demonstratedseveral months earlier in its reaction to the famous ArmoryShow. American discomfort extended to the realm of com-mercial design as well, as they were soon to discover.Undaunted, perhaps even challenged by this unreceptiveatmosphere, Reiss and one of his fellow passengers, OscarWentz, set out almost immediately to introduce the boldcolors and daring forms of Modern Decorative Art2 to theland of the Puritans. Wentz possessed something that wascompletely at home on these shores: a keen entrepreneurialspirit which spurred him to develop a wide range of pro-jects. The direct result was to provide Reiss with an imme-diate stimulus and patronage for his work, includinggraphic and interior design, launching his career andadvancing Wentz's.

Oscar Wentz served as an avid propagandistand promoter of modern commercial art. Within two yearsof his arrival he founded the Society of Modern Art andbegan to publish its official organ, the Modern Art

Figure 2

Collector (M.A.C.) (1915-18). Unprecedented in the qualityand style of its printing, as well as its subject matter, theM.A. C. served as the main tool to promote the goals of theSociety of Modern Art and the work of its members.Wentz simultaneously attempted to popularize the ArtPoster Stamp in this country and enlisted the support ofexecutives in the infant motion picture industry interestedin improving American poster design.3 He was described in1929 as "a pioneer of modern art in this country and thefirst president of the Society of Modern Art, an early groupof modern artists."4

Reiss played a key role in the production ofthe early issues of the M.A.C. , so much so that one won-ders when he had time to sleep or eat during its first sixmonths of publication. This work drew upon his experi-ence in creating the first issue of a periodical entitledJunjvolk while still in Germany.5 From September toDecember of 1915, he designed three of the M.A.C.}s firstfour covers, much of what was inside, and in large partestablished its graphic identity. Particularly Reissian werethe undulating vertical and horizontal lines6 employed inborders and the slanting or falling letter "S,"7 which laterbecame hallmarks of his architectural and graphic designprojects. It is revealing to compare Reiss's first M.A.C.cover to a poster designed in 1908 by Julius Diez, his pro-fessor at Munich's Kunstgewerbeschule,* to promote animportant applied arts exhibition Diez silhouettes a bold

It is revealing to compareReiss's first M.A.C. cover(Figure #2) to a posterdesigned in 1908 by JuliusDiez, his professor in Munich.(Figure #1)

40 Queen City Heritage

Figure 3

symbol of the genius of the arts applied to the tools ofindustrial production against the outline of Munich'sFrauenkirche, while Reiss places a colorful parrot andabstracted flower vases against a bright pink backgroundinto which they partially blend. Both employ bold letteringand simplified forms, large expanses of flat and contrastingcolors; and strong lines: the distinctive attributes of theGerman Poster Style.9 While the first M.A.C. cover wasself-consciously sophisticated and represented a tour-de-force of the lithographic art, the tenth (ca. 1917) shows usanother, quite different side of his artistic personality, thelove of primitive natural motifs and the ability to reduceand simplify them to essential patterns of form, line, andcolor. The bird and flower motif becomes a signature inmuch of Reiss's later work. The pages of the M.A.C. alsoare useful in providing evidence of the diversity and successof his beginnings. The start of a long career as an educatoris signaled by a witty promotion for the Winold ReissSchool in which an artistic cherub armed with a drippingbrush tames a bucking tube of tempera. A more restrainedpresentation of the importance of good lettering in adver-tising was clearly designed to appeal to a different audience

of conservative businessmen. Reiss's first architecturalcommission, the Busy Lady Bakery of 1915 (described in1939 as the first modern store in New York)10 is covered atlength. Emphasis is given to the involvement of the artistin every aspect of the store's design, from its interior andexterior architecture, to its advertising and bold blue andwhite packaging, all illustrated in the M.A. C. Reiss workedout the spare but elegant essentials of the interior designscheme for the Busy Lady in a small design sketch whosestrong lines, squarish grids, and punctuation of broad flatsurfaces with simplified decorations recall the work of JosefHoffmann and the Vienna Secession and at the same timeestablish a recurring theme in his own work.

The look of the M.A. C. was dramatic, bold,colorful, self-consciously modern, and German. Thisaugured both good and ill for the fate of the publication,for Germany, and Munich in particular, led the world inprinting technology and graphic design. The pages of theM.A.C. are filled with the advertisements of printing firmsand suppliers throughout the United States with Germanorigins: the Stockinger, A. Bielenberg, and Zeese-Wilkinson Companies of New York; Berger and Wirth ofBrooklyn, Charles Hellmuth of New York and Chicago;the Manternach Engraving Company of Hartford; F.Weber & Co. of Philadelphia; the Meinzinger Studios inDetroit; Frank B. Nuderscher of St. Louis; and the

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Figure 4

The tenth M.A.C. cover repre-sented quite a different sideof Reiss's artistic personality,the love of primitive naturalmotifs and the ability toreduce and simplify them toessential patterns of form,line, and color. (Figure #3)

The start of a long career asan educator is signaled by awitty promotion for theWinold Reiss School in whichan artistic cherub armed witha dripping paint brush tamesa bucking tube of tempera.(Figure #4)


Barnhart Brothers of Chicago, St. Louis, Washington,Dallas, Omaha, Kansas City, Saint Paul, and Seattle;among others. Chicago's Society of Poster Art styled itselfas specializing in the "Munich System" of designing andprinting. None of this commercial goodwill, however, wasto prove equal to the rising tide of anti-German feelingrelated to the First World War (1914-1918), which theUnited States entered in its last year. Modern German Art

already well on his way to becoming one of New York'sleading restauranteurs. Within a decade after his arrival inNew York, Otto J. Baumgarten came to preside over asmall empire of the city's finest restaurants, including theVoisin, the Crillon, the Esplanade, and the Elysee.12

Initially trained at his father's restaurant in Vienna, thehearth of the modern movement in architecture,Baumgarten was not blind to the commercial advantages

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Figure 5

had no place in a nation whose army grew from 160,000 to3,500,000 between 1916 and 1918 and was rationing meatand sugar in order to stop another sort of Teutonic offen-sive.11 The final issue of the M A C , published in 1918, putforward its brand of Modern Art as European rather thanheavily German, and promoted the third Liberty Loan andthe patriotic involvement of all artists, but it was to provetoo little, too late.

To return to the last of our Atlantic voy-agers, Alfons L. Baumgarten was important primarily forproviding Reiss with an introduction to his brother, Otto,

Figure 6

of good design, and saw the wisdom of using his eatingestablishments as a proving ground for Reiss's work ininterior decoration, for which they provided a highly visi-ble and suitable stage. The first Restaurant Crillon of 1919-20, located at 15 East 48th Street, caused a sensationreferred to repeatedly over the next two decades.13 Calledthe "first modernistic interior in America,"14 it featuredflat, starkly delineated wall surfaces; prismatic hues; andlarge, simplified decorations, presaging the "super-graph-ics" of our own time. All are evident in one of Reiss'ssmall design sketches, where the bird-and-flower theme ofthe decorative wall panels recall the second cover of theM.A.C. and the avant-garde furnishings are right out ofVienna. Another Baumgarten enterprise, the manufactureof chocolates, led to the creation of establishments such asthe Baumgarten Cafe Viennois and Baumgarten VienneseBonbonniere, for which, in addition to architecture, Reissdesigned packaging and even the delivery truck,15 continu-ing a pattern begun with the Busy Lady Bakery andextending throughout his career.16 Otto Baumgarten alsocollaborated with Reiss as a consultant in restaurant man-agement, bringing his expertise to many other Americanrestaurant projects.17

A more restrained presenta-tion of the importance ofgood lettering in advertisingwas clearly designed toappeal to a different audienceof conservative businessmen.(Figure #5)

Reiss worked out the sparebut elegant essentials of theinterior design scheme forthe Busy Lady in a smalldesign sketch with stronglines, squarish grids, andpunctuation of broad flat sur-

faces with simplified decora-tions. (Figure #6)

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Figure 7

DECORATION

Figure 8

Reiss's first architecturalcommission, the Busy LadyBakery of 1915 (described in1939 as the first modern storein New York) is covered atlength. The artist wasinvolved in every aspect of

the store's design. Hedesigned its interior and exte-rior architecture, as well as itsadvertising and bold blue andwhite packaging. (Figures #7and 8)


Figure 9

The Crillon Restaurant, calledthe "first modernistic interiorin America," featured flat,starkly delineated wall sur-faces; prismatic hues; andlarge, simplified decorations,presaging the "super-

graphics" of our own time.All are evident in one ofReiss's small designsketches. (Figure #9)


Wentz's M.A.C. and Baumgarten's Crilloncommissions were key factors in the first decade of Reiss'sdesign career in America, paving the way for increasingsuccess during the 1920s, out of which he emerged as awell known figure in American interior decoration and tex-tile and furniture design. It was a decade framed by designcommissions for two important hotels, the Alamac and theSt. George.

Harry Latz, the developer of the HotelAlamac,18 gave Reiss considerable artistic and financial free-dom in its decorating scheme, to notable effect. The publicrooms of the building were conceived in two very differentstyles. In her 1925 article for the International Studio,19 thecritic Margaret Breuning wrote: "One realizes the empha-sis of decoration in modern murals in the work of WinoldReiss, who has done a number of restaurants and mostrecently the Alamac Hotel. The Hotel Alamac has manymotifs in its decorations varying with the intended use ofthe rooms as well as their shape and size. The mediaevalroom is one of the most effective. Its panels represent pic-turesque figures of the Middle Ages. The huntsman, thelady fair and the valiant knight alternating with rich metalpanels elaborately carved. The Congo Room makes use ofthe motifs of primitive African sculpture and ornament,not only in its murals but also in its furnishings down tothe most trivial detail. The effect is remarkably impressive."Writing almost a decade later about the use of decorativemetalwork in Rockefeller Center, Eugene Clute identifiedReiss's work at the Alamac as the first and best of its type:"Perhaps the first notable example of this kind of metalwork was the series of large decorative wall panels thatwere designed by Winold Reiss for the Hotel Alamac, NewYork City, and installed in the grill room when that hotelwas built, ten years or more ago. They were executed in acombination of metals worked in repousse, includingwrought iron, copper, brass, steel and aluminum. Thecraftsmanship was executed by Julius Ormos and CharlesBardosy. The work represented scenes of the chase, ren-dered with an admirable sense of decorative values and afeeling for the technique employed."20 The Architect andBuilding News compared the decorative metal panels withthe work of Edgar Brandt, one of the leading artists of theperiod.21

Far removed in both style and distance fromits medieval grill room was the Alamac's daringly con-ceived Congo Roof, which represented Reiss's and NewYork's first treatment of a tropical theme. Drawing on hisknowledge of both Cubism and African Art, the commis-

sion allowed Reiss to begin to develop a decorative vocab-ulary that became a key part of his own repertoire and hasremained a popular sub-theme of American restaurants andnightclub decoration to the present day. Its stylisticallyadvanced, Cubist-related ideas, are described in New York1930: "The Congo Room was part of a rooftop restaurantknown as the South African Garden that, according toArchitecture and Building, was destined to appeal to thosecraving 'an unusual and garish setting for their meals.'Elevators whisked diners to a rooftop entrance vestibulewith grass flooring and a straw-covered ceiling. Enteredthrough the jaws of a vividly painted mask, the restaurantitself resembled an African village. The theme was carriedout in the chairs and tables and the murals of leopards,chimpanzees, and snakes. Diners seeking privacy could taketheir meals seated at booths made to resemble thatchedhuts, which lined the walls and focused on a native 'councilchamber' from which an orchestra blared its jazz. Eachchair back simulated a tribal mask, and the general lightingemanated from idol masks suspended from the ceilings."22

The decoration of the Alamac's rooms, suitesand corridors were also a part of Reiss's commission, andthey allowed him to draw upon the principles of ModernDecorative Art as they applied to residential interiors. In asketch for a sitting room in one of the hotel's suites we cansee its similarities to a domestic interior published in thefirst issue of the M.A.C, part of a feature on the work ofE. H. and G. G. Aschermann, a Viennese team designingAmerican interiors in the spirit of the Wiener Werkstatten.Mr. Aschermann was described as having studied withJosef Hoffmann, and nothing shown belies this. The sim-ple lines of the furniture are emphasized by their black fin-ish, echoing the strong outlines of the baseboard, carpet,french doors, and window. Wall panels bordered in bril-liant blue with bright yellow accents complete the ensem-ble. Both the Aschermanns' and Reiss's interiors wereunprecedented in American residential architecture of theperiod, and would have appeared strikingly modern in the1930s, as they do, indeed, today. Whereas the Aschermanns'was advanced, Reiss's interior was more daring and originalin the studied informality of its furniture arrangement, theuse of brilliantly colored accessories to accent an abstractpainting over the mantel, and simplified graphic elementspunctuating the door and wall planes. All of these poten-tially jarring and clearly stimulating elements are harmo-niously combined to create a unified effect. Both embodyprecisely the characteristics of modern German decorationobserved by French designers between 1908 and 1910 and


Figure 10

Figure 11

The decoration of theAlamac's rooms, suites andcorridors were also a part ofReiss's commission, and theyallowed him to draw uponthe principles of ModernDecorative Art as theyapplied to residential

interiors. In a sketch for a sit-ting room in one of hotel'ssuites (Figure #10) we cansee its similarities to adomestic interior (Figure #11)published in the first issue ofthe M.A.C.


used to define and create their own unique and modernstyle.23

Reiss's work in residential interiors duringthe 1920s ranged from hotels and apartment buildings toindividual apartments and furniture and fabrics for thedomestic market. Much of it was highly experimental andinnovative in character — including the use of many newmaterials: in metal, aluminum and chromium; in fabrics,synthetic products such as rayon and Du Pont's Fabrikoidand Nemoursa; and paints and wall coverings like Ducoand Muralart, an early type of Formica. The new types offinishes, effects (including air-brushing), and colors whichthese materials allowed were further extended by the useof new lighting techniques and fixtures. In addition toworking as a color consultant for Du Pont's Fabrikoid andMuralart product lines, during this period Reiss designednew products for many companies: fabrics for Mallinson,Schumacher, Mosse, Martex, and Shelton Looms; furni-ture for Thonet and General Fireproofing; lighting fixtures

Figure 12

for Egli; and packaging and advertising for a wide range ofclients. His work was featured in various exhibitions spon-sored by New York's leading department stores as well asthe Metropolitan Museum of Art. In 1928 he joined anumber of leading designers in forming their own designshowcase, the American Designers Gallery, whose firstexhibition was organized by Ely Jacques Kahn and Joseph

Urban. Reiss, Paul Frankl, and Donald Deskey were cred-ited with presenting the designs most likely to make "apractical contribution to an evolving Modernism."24

A few examples illustrate a less practical butequally sophisticated aspect of Reiss's work in these areas,the distinctive brand of "zig-zag" modernism which heevolved during the 1920s, drawing inspiration from nativeAmerican motifs.25 Although a boyhood fascination withnative Americans drew him to this country, the artist's firstWestern trip, including Montana, Colorado, New Mexico,and Mexico, did not take place until 1920, followed by asecond and longer stay in Montana in 1927.26 Reiss's acad-emic training in the use of pattern and color made himhighly receptive to native American motifs, which increas-ingly found their way into his graphic and commercialdesign work. The use of either a zig-zag line (chevron) orrow of linked triangles, commonly used in the art of theBlackfoot and Sioux nations, became a signature of Reiss'swork from the late 1920s onward.27 American, European,and modern sources all come together in the jagged com-position of angles and bright colors which characterizedhis 1928 design for the elevator cab of the Seelig andFinkelstein's Shellball Apartments.28 Although its interiorno doubt rendered vertical travel more stimulating thanmost residents of the building ever desired, the designwould have made any one of Prague's Cubist architectsproud. Sketches of metalwork designs, also related to theShellball Apartments, demonstrate Reiss's continuingexperiments in the decorative uses of metalwork and theeffects of combining different metals in a single composi-tion. His eager quest to introduce lively colors and imagi-native ideas into American furniture design is representedby a sketch for a dressing-table and bench of complexangles and contrasting shades of bright yellow, red, blue,and black, which echo the vocabulary of the De Stijlmovement and challenge any preconceptions concerningtheir form.

The 1920s also marked Reiss's first commis-sions outside of the New York area, significantly in thegreat mid-western metropolis of Chicago. Holabird andRoot, one of that city's most progressive architecturalfirms, was linked to three of these, beginning with muralsfor the Apollo Theatre (1922-23) and ending with theWalden Bookshop in the Michigan Square Building(1930). Reiss's 1928 interiors for one of Chicago's leadingclubs, the Tavern, which occupied the twenty-fifth floor ofa Holabird and Root skyscraper at 333 N. MichiganAvenue, were widely praised and publicized, winning him

The use of either a zig-zagline (chevron) or row oflinked triangles became a sig-nature of Reiss's work fromthe late 1920s onward.American, European, andmodern sources all come

together in the jagged com-position of angles and brightcolors which characterizedhis 1928 design for the eleva-tor cab of the Seelig andFinkelstein's ShellballApartments. (Figure #12)

Spring 1993 The Origins of Landscape Architecture 47

Figure 13

a whole new list of admirers and clients from many parts ofthe country.29 A contemporary article in The Chicagoandescribed his achievement in glowing terms: "WinoldReiss, a leader in the profession of interior decoration, wasgiven the commission. He was also given carte blanche,with John Root, of the building committee, exercising thepower of veto over the designs as they were submitted.The result speaks for itself. The rooms of The Tavern arethe most brilliant example of modern decorative style inthe country. There is gayety and originality, without eccen-tric affectation, in every detail. The Tavern, in its physicalaspect, is a work of art. And being modern art, it has adynamic quality; it refreshes and stimulates. The visitor tothis Tavern drops down to the street and to everyday life, abetter workman, at whatever craft he practices, than he wasbefore, because the colors and forms of these rooms haveput a new beat into his pulse and a new vibrancy into hisnerves."30

In 1930 Reiss completed extensive designsfor the vast interiors of Brooklyn's Hotel St. George,

which, with the addition of a thirty-one-story tower byarchitect Emery Roth, became the nation's second largest.As many as 3,500 guests could occupy its 2,632 rooms, andits many dining facilities were capable of serving up to9,000 patrons at any one time. Winold Reiss Studios con-ceived and designed most of the public spaces in the newTower Building, which "included the largest indoor swim-ming pool in the metropolis and the most expensive oneever built; the largest and most costly banquet facilities inthe world, embracing sixteen magnificent rooms; thelargest hotel ballroom in the world." The architect and his-torian Robert A. M. Stern has sung the praises of its ball-room, designed to hold over 3,000 people, in the prosestyle of Tom Wolfe: "the single most startling interior pub-lic space of the time in New York...as completed, with itsmyriad of colored lights articulating every facet, the ball-room was a brilliant tour-de-force, a real life version ofmovie-modern, a last blaring wail of jazz-age stylishness atits very best."31 His old friend Oscar Wentz described

Figure 14

Sketches of metalworkdesigns also related to theShellball Apartments,demonstrate Reiss's continu-ing experiments in the deco-rative uses of metalwork andthe effects of combining

different metals in a singlecomposition. (Figure #13)

His eager quest to introducelively colors and imaginativeideas into American furnituredesign is represented by asketch for a dressing-tableand bench of complex anglesand contrasting shades of

bright yellow, red, blue, andblack. (Figure #14)


Reiss's stylish treatment of the entrance to the ballroom:"Leading to this room is a huge foyer, the feeling of spacein a measure imparted by the 'scaping' of the carpet inthree tones of red with diagonal lines suggesting broad vis-tas. This same treatment is reflected in the cream ceilingwith bands of red and gold. Indirect light is softly diffusedfrom the ceiling and columns, casting its warm glow onthe gold and vermilion Muralart walls ornamented at inter-vals with metal grill work."32 The St. George constituted acity within a city, a great public arena rivaled only byCincinnati's Union Terminal among Reiss's works.

The great building boom of the 1920s, whichhad provided Reiss with so many design opportunites andcommissions, came to an abrupt halt with the onset of theDepression. During the 1930s Reiss's work was morerestricted in range and harder to find. Among his papers isa portfolio containing dozens of elegant designs proposedto the Barracini candy company, which Tjark Reiss saysrepresent his father's attempts to obtain commissions dur-ing this period. His prospects improved following the

repeal of Prohibition in December, 1933,33 and a series ofcommissions from Henry Lustig for his Longchampsrestaurants34 provided Reiss's career with renewed stimulusand visibility after 1935.

In addition to their famous culinary offer-ings, the second generation of Longchamps restaurantsenjoyed some of New York's best locations and represent-ed the height of stylishness: "Longchamps is not naive; itsis daring and sumptuous," declared the critic TalbotHamlin in 1939.35 Lavish features introduced by theLongchamps chain included the extensive use of mirroredwall surfaces and indirect lighting, complex floor and ceil-ing levels, table telephone and twenty-four-hour service,and receding plate glass windows which turned the restau-rants into outdoor cafes in good weather. The first (1935)occupied the ground floor corner of the Chanin Buildingdiagonally across from the Chrysler Building, with lobbyentrances from both 42nd Street and Lexington Avenue,while the largest and most successful (1938) was ingenious-ly arranged on five levels of that icon of American architec-

Figure 15

Winold Reiss Studios con-ceived and designed most ofthe public spaces in the newTower Building including thelargest ballroom in the worldwhich was designed to holdover 3,000 people.(Figure #15)


Figure 16

ture, the Empire State Building.The exterior of Reiss's 1941 proposal for a

new bar and roof garden at the 49th Street and MadisonAvenue Longchamps displays the chain's trademark vermil-lion coloring and lettering, including the falling "S," whilethe undulating lines which enliven its canopy and bronzewall panels recall the early borders of the M.A.C. Theentire effect is not dissimilar to that of the Barracini candybox already illustrated: the name or sign identifying theproduct or establishment has been completly integratedinto its design; it has become a sign rather than simply pro-viding a place for one.

The care given to the smallest details in theLongchamps projects, as well as a willingness to experi-ment with the decorative possibilities of new materials, isdemonstrated in a design sketch for the inlaid formica top

of a bar table. A Longchamps lobby card of the period is abrilliant exercise in graphic design, exhibiting the samequalities. It announces "Cocktail Time" in a colorful andinviting display with lettering punctuated by the samemotif of linked triangles which Reiss had used to architec-tural effect in the ballroom of the Hotel St. George. Thebold treatment of the interiors of the Longchamps37 can beobserved in a 1946 sketch for the new retail shops of the57th Street branch. Reiss visibly moves the patron througha gauntlet of shop windows by means of an undulatingfloor pattern and rhythmic frieze in which he returns to hisroots for inspiration, employing motifs almost identical tothose introduced a half-century earlier by Kolomon Moser,the great Viennese Secession designer, in his own house.38

The success of Lustig's and Reiss's collaboration has beensummed-up in this way: "The Longchamps restaurants

Otto Wentz described Reiss'sstylish treatment of theentrance to the ballroom:"Leading to this room is ahuge foyer, the feeling ofspace in a measure impartedby the 'scaping' of the carpet

in three tones of red withdiagonal lines suggestingbroad vistas." (Figure #16)


Figure 17

brought to a middle-class audience the glittery glamor ofsuch highly exclusive haunts of New York's cafe society asthe Stork Club and El Morocco...[and] represented theculmination of a decade's search for an opulent and evenplayful modern language of form."39

Following Lustig's sale of the restaurants in1946, commissions followed for three more Longchamps,completed between 1950 and 1952. The first, in New York'sManhattan House, employed Reiss's life-long mastery oftropical themes to good effect; another, in Washington, D.C, featured native American murals and decorations; andthe last and least, in Philadelphia, was carried out in awatered-down Colonial style which clearly indicates areduction in Reiss's activity following a stroke in 1951.Taken as a whole, the Longchamps commissions served acritical role for Reiss providing him with new design oppor-tunities and placing his work squarely in the public eye.During the last two decades of his career, the Longchampswork led to many other new commissions, large and small,

for the "stylings" of restaurants, hotels, and commercialestablishments in many parts of the country.

By the mid-1940s at least six Reiss-designedestablishments, including the Steuben Tavern, the famousLindy's Restaurant, and four of the nine Longchamps,were within walking distance from Times Square and NewYork's Theater district. The average Longchamps wascapable of serving an average of 800 patrons at a time,while one employed fifty bartenders. Beginning with theCrillon of 1919-20, for three decades anyone dining well inthe world's greatest metropolis, including thousands of vis-itors, would have been familiar with, if not aware of,Reiss's designs. This was also true to a lesser degree inChicago, with Reiss interiors at the Tavern Club, thePalmer House, and the Sherman Hotel; in Los Angeles,with Mike Lyman's; and in cities such as Holyoke,Massachusetts, and Allentown, Pennsylvania. In 1949 Reissreceived a commission for Montreal's Chic-N-CoopRestaurant, conceived, in spite of its name, very much in

During the 1930s Reiss'swork was more restricted inrange and harder to find.Among his papers is a portfo-lio containing dozens of ele-gant designs proposed to theBarracini candy company.(Figure #17)


Figure 19

Figure 18

The exterior of Reiss's 1941proposal for a new bar androof garden at the 49th Streetand Madison AvenueLongchamps displays thechain's trademark vermillioncoloring and lettering, includ-

ing the falling 'S', while theundulating lines whichenliven its canopy and bronzewall panels recall the earlyborders of the M.A.C.(Figure #18)

A willingness to experimentwith the decorativepossibilities of new materials,is demonstrated in a designsketch for the inlaid formicatop of a bar table.(Figure #19)


the elegant spirit of his Longchamps works.40 At the age ofsixty-four he proved himself to be as creative and imagina-tive as ever, producing stacks of sketches and drawings inmany variant schemes for its exterior, interiors, and graphicidentity.

1. Winold Reiss came to be much better known for his work as a por-traitist and muralist. This has been partly responsible for obscuringhis reputation as a commercial artist, to which this analysis attemptsto provide a brief introduction. The stigma which continued toattach itself to commercial art work in this country often threatenedand sometimes compromised the artist's non-commercial career.

Figure 20

This brief overview is not the place toattempt any final evaluation of of Reiss's contributions toAmerican design, but has tried to bring some of them tomore general attention. His introduction of entirely newuses and types of color; experimentation with new formsand materials; incorporation of poster-like graphic ele-ments; and integration of native American decorativemotifs represent some of the most promising areas for fur-ther study and analysis. It is appropriate to close with arecent statement by the architect Morris Lapidus, whoseown work is currently the object of renewed appreciation.His credentials include the practice of architecture in NewYork City from 1927 until the early 1960s, providing him athirty-year perspective of developments in Americandesign. Earlier this year, following his return from a lectureat Yale's School of Architecture, I asked Lapidus if heremembered Reiss's work and if it had had any effect onhis own.41 Without hesitation, he admitted instances of hisinfluence and recalled that, as the preceding pages haveattempted to show: "Reiss was way ahead of all of us."

Reiss's work as a painter and muralist, together with the training andtJieory of artistic practice which supported it, should not be viewed asa separate but rather as an integral aspect of his work in architectureand design. A superb education in one of Europe's most progressiveartistic centers instilled in the young artist a firm and life-long beliefin the unity and equality of the arts of design, and made of him a stal-wart soldier in the battle to bring the talents of artists to the serviceof a wider range of design problems. The Winold Reiss who disem-barked from the S.S. Imperator carried with him to America a willing-ness to devote as much energy and ability to the design of posters,magazine covers, advertisements, fabrics, floor coverings, wallpaper,textiles, furniture, and interiors as to easel paintings or mural decora-tions. His work in these areas ultimately may prove to have beenmore influential than his more traditional artistic endeavors. Tjarkand Renate Reiss have been unfailing in their hospitality, encourage-ment, and support in regard to my interest in Reiss's design careerand have been very generous in helping to establish a representativecollection of his work in the Prints and Photographs Division of theLibrary of Congress. Tjark Reiss, in particular, shares my opinion thathis father's contributions in this area have yet to be suitably recog-nized. This effort may serve, in some small measure, to correct thissituation. While periodic access to Reiss's archives since 1987 hasallowed me certain insights into his career as a designer, this can onlysupplement the years of careful and painstaking documentary investi-gations represented in Fred Brauen, "Winold Reiss (1886-1953): Colorand Design in the New American Art," (New York, 1980), an indis-pensable tool for anyone attempting a study of this subject.2. The cause of Modern Decorative Art is cited repeatedly in themanifestos published by Reiss and Wentz in the M.A.C. and else-where during the next two decades. See "A Word About ModernDecorative Art," M.A.C. , vol. 1, no. 1 (September, 1915): At no time

A Longchamps lobby card ofthe period is a brilliant exer-cise in graphic design. Itannounces "Cocktail Time" ina colorful and inviting displaywith lettering punctuated bythe same motif of linked

triangles which Reiss hadused to architectural effect inthe ballroom of the Hotel St.George. (Figure #20)


Figure 21

Figure 22

The bold treatment of theinteriors of the Longchampscan be observed in a 1946sketch for the new retailshops of the 57th Streetbranch. (Figure #21)

Between 1950 and 1952 Reissdesigned three moreLongchamps, the first, inNew York's ManhattanHouse. (Figure #22)


has Decorative Art been so much the subject of discussion as at thepresent. There are two reasons for this. First, by the revival inEurope, especially in the German speaking countries, of decorativeart, i.e., of Art in its applied forms. Second, by the misinterpretationof the words Decorative Art as used in the modern sense of the wordand the misunderstandings arising therefrom....Modern artists wit-tingly or unwittingly have changed the meaning of the words"Decorative Art." In their meaning of Decorative Art they seek toexpress in a form or series of forms, a certain feeling — this feelingthey call decorative. The feeling expresses itself through strong linesand broad colors. Sometimes the colors are very bold, even crude andhard in combination. Sometimes they are soft and harmonious, butalways the same quality runs through all; the general effect is big,broad, and simple.— The bigger and simpler the effect, the moredecorative the work.

3. See Robert E. Irwin, "Posters and Motion Pictures,t Modern ArtCollector (M.A.C.) , vol. 1, no. 2 (October, 1915). Irwin was an exec-utive in the Poster Division of Metro Pictures Corporation.4. The New York Times Magazine, March 10,1929, p. 14.5. Tjark and Renate Reiss possess a copy of this rare amateur publica-tion, whose cover, borders, and illustrations were designed by WinoldReiss in a manner inspired more by the Jugendstil and the work ofCharles Rennie Mackintosh than the later Munich School. Reiss alsocontributed a number of poems to Jungvolk which demonstrate hisromantic sensibilities.6. Friedrich Achleitner, Osterreichische Architektur im 20.Jahrhundert, Ein Fiihrer in drei Bdnden , vol. 3, pt. 1 (Vienna:Museum fur Moderne Kunst, 1990): 93-94, illustrates comparable dis-tinctive undulating bands employed by the architect Otto Wagner todecorate the exterior of Vienna's Leopoldstadt railway station, ca.1904-1908, showing the motif as a part of the contemporary designvocabulary. Reiss never visited Vienna, but he employed this motif todecorate the interiors and exteriors of many of his own buildings,sometimes in mosaic, as in the facade of the Restaurant Longchampsat 59th and Madison Avenue of 1939.

7. This was perhaps adopted either from the work of his colleagueIlonka Karasz or from Frank Nuderscher, who both employed themotif in early issues of the M.A. C.8. Ulrich Thieme and Felix Becker, eds., Allgemeines Lexikon derBildenden Kunstler von der Antike bis zur Gegenwart, vol. 9 (Leipzig,1978), pp. 280-281. Known not only for his posters, Diez providedillustrations for the famous publication Jugend and designed bookcovers and bookplates, advertising art, as well as mural decorationsand mosaics for the new buildings of the University of Munich, theWiesbaden Kurhaus, the Nurnberg train station, and other publicbuildings.9. "A Word About Modern Decorative Art," M.A.C. , vol. 1, no. 1(September, 1915), offers the following description referring to exam-ples which the publication intends to illustrate: "Whether a subject istreated with the large expanses of flat color technic, generally knownas the German Poster style, or with much detailed work, matters not.What matters, is the broad and simple feeling which finds its expres-sion in the general effect. If there are many details, they must be sub-ordinated to the effect in such a way that they do not weaken or dis-turb it." In a subsequent article in the same issue, "ModernDecorative Art for the Advertiser," by Raymond Cavanaugh, theauthor insists that "the claims of Modern Decorative Art for com-mercial recognition must be given the fullest consideration," exhort-ing the reader with the confidence of the newly converted: "Let him[the advertiser] turn to a poster of today, executed in the true spiritof Modern Decorative Art, and he will find positive virtues only.

There are no negative qualities in Modern Decorative Art. To put itslangily, it has the 'punch.' Its color is a joy. Its composition isimpressive; its general suggestive-impression one of strength, forceand character."10. L. O. Duncan, "The Belle of Yesterday," The Store of Greater NewTork (August, 1939): "Her lines are no longer modish although whenshe was opened to public view in 1915, she was the first modern storein America. A great howl went up from the designers of that period.They sneered and said that she was too extreme, almost decadent.Sneerers told architect Winold Reiss to take her back to Paris."11. R. R. Palmer and Joel Colton, A History of the Modern World(New York, 1965), p. 686.12. Brauen "Winold Reiss," p. 17, reports that Otto Baumgartenreached New York in 1908, after working in Paris and London, risingthrough the ranks to become commis at the Plaza before opening theRestaurant Voisin in 1913.13. Brauen, "Winold Reiss," pp. 18, 21, 25-26, has painstakingly tracedmany of these references. See also Robert A. M. Stern, GregoryGilmartin, and Thomas Mellins, New Tork 1930: Architecture andUrbanism betweeen the two World Wars (New York, 1987), pp. 283-84:In 1920 Reiss had pioneered a less scenographic restaurant design inNew York at the Crillon Restaurant at 15 East Forty-eighth Street,which he decorated in what Edwin Avery Park described seven yearslater as a "decidedly modern and thoroughly American taste, usingflat surfaces, broad and colorful painted decoration, based on the pat-terns found in Navajo blankets and Indian pottery."

14. Brauen, "Winold Reiss," p. 25 cites both Beverly Smith in theAmerican Magazine 103 (December 1925), pp. 177-78, describing theinitial Crillon as "the first really modernistic interior in America,which made a great stir and won him [Reiss] other important com-missions," and Margaret Breuning, "Tendencies in mural decora-tions," International Studio 82 (December 1925), p. 177-178: "Aboutsix years ago Mr. Reiss decorated the Crillon Restaurant and createdquite a flutter in the dovecots by his colorful work. Among other fea-tures of this building was a room treated in modernistic style andprismatic hues."

15. Brauen, "Winold Reiss," p. 83, n. 40.16. "Let the Motif be Modern, Advises Expert," An Interview withWinold Reiss, The Restaurant Man (April, 1931), 14: "When Mr.

Figure 23

The Manhattan House designemployed Reiss's life-longmastery of tropical themes.(Figure #23)


Reiss is called in to design a restaurant, he usually also designs thefurniture and even the menu cards and meal check, for he believesthat all of these combinations are instrumental in expressing the char-acter of the establishment."17. "Let the Motif be Modern, Advises Expert," An Interview withWinold Reiss, The Restaurant Man (April, 1931), 15: "The Crillon'sowner, Mr. Baumgartner [sic], incidentally, is a partner of Mr. Reissin the restaurant decorating division of the latter's studios. An anunusually effective combination they make — Mr. Reiss the artist anddecorator and Mr. Baumgartner being a successful restauranteur.""Winold Reiss Co. Doing Decorations for Alamac," The

who "has made up his mind at the start that he would spare noexpense in making the new Alamac the very finest possible and he hasshown his excellent taste by selecting Mr. Reiss for this importantcommission."19. Margaret Breuning, "Tendencies in mural decorations,"International Studio 82 (December 1925), pp. 177-178.20. Eugene Clute, "Today's Craftsmanship in Combining Metals,"Architecture (October, 1934), pp. 203-205.21. "A Modern Decorator in New York," Architect and BuildingNews (November 26,1926), p. 634.22. Stern, New Tork 1930, p.283.

Figure 24

Restauranteur (August 11, 1923), p. 8, stated that the upperBroadway Building, nearing completion, was decorated by "theWinold Reiss Decorating Company, of which Otto J. Baumgarten,the noted restauranteur, is the business manager." Baumgarten wasidentified as a partner as well as business manager of the Reiss firm,and as the "proprietor of the famous Crillon Restaurant...one of themost beautiful examples of decorating to be found anywhere....Whenit is taken into consideration that Mr. Baumgarten is an experiencedhotel and restaurant man who thoroughly understands this business,his position as general business manager for the Winold ReissDecorating Company makes this company especially fitted to handlesatisfactorily all hotel and restaurant work."18. "Winold Reiss Co. Doing Decorations for Alamac," TheRestauranteur (August 11, 1923), p. 8, identified Latz as a developer

23. Yvonne Brunhammer and Suzanne Tise, The Decorative Arts inFrance: La Societe des artistes decorateurs, 1900-1942 (New York, 1990):26: "A dramatic change in the style of the works exhibited in thesalons of the Societe came about as the result of a second manifesta-tion of the Munich Werkstatten — their appearance in Paris at theSalon d'Automne in 1910. Since 1900 the growing artistic and com-mercial success of the Werkstatten had been a cause for alarm inFrance. There was even more concern after an important applied artsexhibition in Munich in 1908, when the French delegation, whichincluded one of the founders of the Societe des artistes decorateurs,Rupert Carabin, returned to report that the German exhibition repre-sented for France an "artistic and commercial Sedan." The delegationlater reported to a conference on the decorative arts in Nancy thatthe long-sought-after modern style had not been born in France, but

At the age of sixty-four heproved himself to be ascreative and imaginative asever, producing stacks ofsketches and drawings inmany variant schemes for theexterior, graphic identity, and

interiors of Chic-N-Coop inMontreal. (Figure #24)


in Germany: "The ruling principle that inspires the young Germanschool is to create harmonious ensembles through a collaboration ofsculpture, painting and architecture, and the group has endeavouredto realize this by reforming the aesthetics of the home to make themodern house a combined work of art, a practical construction ofsimple and dignified beauty...Thanks to the simplicity which theyintentionally seek, they have succeeded in creating furniture designsof good quality and irreproachable form that may be executed entire-ly by machine, so that they are within the reach of modest budgets. Itwas after the delegation returned from Munich in 1908 that FrantzJourdain...invited the Munich Werkstatten to exhibit in Paris in1910.... When the Salon opened in October, the Munich group...filled eighteen rooms with the finest products of modern Germandecorative artists organized on the theme of the 'House of an ArtLover'...the interiors were not particularly innovative, but theydemonstrated a sobriety, unity of design and sophistication that com-pletely surprised the French public. The colour schemes were equallyunexpected: bright oranges, cobalt blue and brilliant greens — huesvirtually unknown in French decoration."24. Stern, New Tork 1930, p. 338.

25."A Modern Decorator in New York," Architect and BuildingNews (November 26, 1926), pp. 632-34: "For the inspiration of hisdecorative motifs, however, Mr. Reiss has paid a good deal of atten-tion to the work of the American Indian and Aztec sculpture.Probably as a foreigner he surveys the field of American inspirationalsources with a fresh eye, and, like one or two other artists, has beenastonished at the richness of Aztec art which can not only be consid-ered an indigenous but which contain boundless suggestions fordevelopment...Winold Reiss works in his New York studio in con-junction with his brother, who is a sculptor, and who shares enthusi-asm for Mexican and Indian work. Both brothers feel that native arthas been neglected in favour of imported details, and that in Indianwork is revealed a sense of pattern which is in itself an inspiration.Certainly some of the vermillion, yellow and green interiors of theCrillon restaurants in New York show a strong Indian suggestion."

26. "Winold Reiss - May 1913," typescript biographical sketch,Collection of Tjark and Renate Reiss.27. Stern, New Tork 1930, pp. 283-84: In 1920 Reiss had pioneered aless scenographic restaurant design in New York at the CrillonRestaurant at 15 East Forty-eighth Street, which he decorated in whatEdwin Avery Park described seven years later as a "decidedly modernand thoroughly American taste, using flat surfaces, broad and colorfulpainted decoration, based on the patterns found in Navajo blanketsand Indian pottery." The zig-zag or chevron motif first appears com-monly throughout Reiss's designs for the interiors of the AlamacHotel, insinuating itself successfully into both his medieval andAfrican themes. After the middle twenties it occurs increasingly in thedistinctive advertisements for the Restaurant Crillon and later inthose for the Longchamps chain, (fig. 20).

28. American Architect (February 5,1929), p. 173.29. As late as 1941 his earlier work on the Tavern Club led to a com-mission from the architectural firm of Neville & Sharp to design anew bar and dining room for Kansas City's Hotel President. One ofthe architects wrote to Reiss, recalling: "I remember having seen themurals you did for the Tavern Club in the 333 Michigan AvenueBuilding in Chicago, some years ago..," Neville & Sharp to Reiss,February 13,1941, Collection of Tjark and Renate Reiss.30. Charles Collins, "Floreat Taberna! Temple of the Gay Heart andthe Quickened Mind," The Chicagoan (1928), pp. llff. Other con-temporary accounts included: Athena Robbins, "A Town ClubDecorated in the Modern Style," Good Furniture Magazine (March,1929), pp. 129ff.;"The Tavern Club at 333 North Michigan Avenue,Chicago," The Architectural Record (February, 1929), pp. 163-66;

"Decorating the Modern Way," Restaurant Management (July,1929), pp. 37ff.; The American Architect (January 5, 1929), p. 36ff;and "Art Moderne in Chicago's Tavern Club," National HotelReview (April 27,1929), pp. 62ff.31. New Tork 1930, pp. 214-15: The 11,000-square-feet, thirty-one-feethigh ballroom, was reputedly the largest in the United States, capableof holding more than 3,000 people.32. O.W. Wentz, "The St. George Goes Modern: In this largest hotelof Greater New York are some fine examples of contemporary deco-ration," The DuPont Magazine (1930), pp. 14-15.33. Stern, New Tork 1930, pp. 283-84: "After Prohibition's repeal Reissdesigned a white, blue, and black cocktail lounge for the Crillon thatwas highly regarded by [Lewis] Mumford, who found it conducive todrinking yet not 'so exciting that you would get drunk at the firstsmell of a Martini. Moreover, the Crillon demonstrates what themore vital modern architects, like Wright and Oud, always knew: thatarchitecture designed for our present style of living does not need toseek its exponents and admirers among the color blind.'"34. The New York city chain grew from six locations in 1935 to atleast ten in 1946. Fred Brauen, "Winold Reiss," pp. 48-54, 70, hascarefully detailed this evolution.35. The respected critic and historian Talbot Hamlin drew attentionto Reiss's achievements in the Longchamps restaurants in an articleentitled "Some Restaurants and Recent Shops" in the widely-readarchitectural periodical Pencil Points (later Progressive Architecture) 20(August, 1939), pp. 485-508. Hamlin described the problem of design-ing a modern restaurant as a difficult one: "to provide the maximumseating accommodation within a limited area, and also surround thepatrons with an atmosphere which will make them forget the smallamount of space they occupy and give the the illusion, if not of priva-cy, at least of intimacy, in surroundings which are gay andcheerful...the idea is to furnish lots of color, to break up the greaternumber of surfaces so as to produce an agreeable sense of complexity,and to use mirrors to create the illusion of increased size" concludingthat the more recent Longchamps, designed by Reiss, "have attained,its seems to me, a remarkable success."

36. Except for its beginnings in the MA.C, it has been beyond thescope of this analyis to present in any depth Reiss's work in the areaof graphic design. He contributed to a number of leading Americanperiodicals, including Scribner's and Fortune, in addition to popularillustrations, and was a fine printmaker. His most influential work,however, was in interior design and packaging.37. According to Tjark Reiss, the Longchamps colors of vermillion,black, and gold, used here, were the same as those in the silksdesigned by Reiss for Henry Lustig's racing stable. Brauen, "WinoldReiss," p. 48, repeats this.38. Vienna 1900, auction catalog, Sotheby's, London (September 23,1993), no. 53, ca. 1902.39. Stern, New Tork 1930, p. 285.40. "le plus chic, le plus luxueux, le plus original lounge deMontreal," Le Canada, December 29,1949.41. Telephone interview, February, 1993, prompted by similarities

observed between Reiss's design for the Empire State BuildingLongchamps (1938) and the interiors of Miami's HotelFontainebleau, designed by Lapidus.


Illustrations:

Figure #1. Julius Diez. Miinchen 1908 Ausstellung. Poster. Color lith-ograph. Poster Collection, Prints and Photographs Division, Libraryof Congress.

Figure #2. Winold Reiss. Cover, Modern Art Collector (M.A.C.)(New York), vol. 1, no.l, (September, 1915).

Figure #3. Winold Reiss. Cover, Modern Art Collector (M.A.C.)(New York), vol. 1, no.10, (ca. 1917).

Figure #4. Winold Reiss. Student Supplement, Modern Art Collector(M.A.C.) (New York), vol. 1, no.4, (December, 1915).

Figure #5. Winold Reiss. Commercial Art Supplement, Modern ArtCollector (M.A.C.) (New York), vol. 1, no.3, (November, 1915).

Figure #6. Winold Reiss. Busy Lady Bakery. Graphite and ink onpaper, ca. 1919. Prints and Photograph Division, Library of Congress.Gift of Tjark and Renate Reiss.

Figure #7. Winold Reiss. Interior Design Supplement, Modern ArtCollector (M.A.C.) (New York), vol. 1, no. 2, (October, 1915).

Figure #8. Winold Reiss. A Modern Bakery, Modern Art Collector(M.A.C.) (New York), vol. 1, no. 4, (December, 1915).

Figure #9. Winold Reiss. Restaurant Crillon. Tempera on paper, ca.1919. Prints and Photograph Division, Library of Congress. Gift ofTjark and Renate Reiss.

Figure #10. Winold Reiss. Alamac Hotel. Graphite and tempera onpaper, ca. 1923. Prints and Photograph Division, Library of Congress.Gift of Tjark and Renate Reiss.

Figure #11. E. H. and G. G. Aschermann. dining room, Forest Hills,Long Island, Modern Art Collector (M.A.C.) (New York), vol. 1, no.4, (December, 1915).

Figure #12. Winold Reiss. Elevator cab, Shellball Apartments, KewGarden, Long Island. Graphite and tempera on paper, ca. 1928. Printsand Photograph Division, Library of Congress. Gift of Tjark andRenate Reiss.

Figure #13. Winold Reiss. Ironwork. Graphite and tempera on paper,1920s. Prints and Photographs Division, Library of Congress. Gift ofTjark and Renate Reiss.

Figure #14. Winold Reiss. Dressing table. Graphite and tempera onpaper, 1920s. Collection of Tjark and Renate Reiss.

Figure #15. Winold Reiss. Ballroom, Hotel St. George, Brooklyn.Photograph, ca. 1930. Prints and Photographs Division, Library ofCongress. Gift of Tjark and Renate Reiss.

Figure #16. Winold Reiss. Foyer, Ballroom, Hotel St. George,Brooklyn. Photograph, ca. 1930. Prints and Photograph Division,Library of Congress. Gift of Tjark and Renate Reiss.

Figure #17. Winold Reiss. Barricini candy box. Graphite and temperaon paper, 1930s. Prints and Photographs Division, Library ofCongress. Deposit of Tjark and Renate Reiss.

Figure #18. Winold Reiss Studios. "Sketch perspective of ProposedNew Bar & Roof Garden, Restaurant Longchamps, 49th Street &Madison Avenue." Graphite and colored pencil on paper, 1920s.Collection of Tjark and Renate Reiss.

Figure #19. Winold Reiss. Formica table top. Graphite and temperaon paper, 1930s. Prints and Photographs Division, Library ofCongress. Gift of Tjark and Renate Reiss.

Figure #20. Winold Reiss Studios. Lobby card: "Cocktail Time,Restaurant Longchamps." Print, ca. 1935-45. Prints and PhotographsDivision, Library of Congress. Gift of Tjark and Renate Reiss.

Figure #21. Winold Reiss Studios. Retail Store, RestaurantLongchamps, 57th Street. Graphite and tempera on paper, February1946. Prints and Photographs Division, Library of Congress. Gift ofTjark and Renate Reiss.

Figure #22. Winold Reiss Studios. Restaurant Longchamps,Manhattan House, 53 Third Avenue. Graphite and tempera on paper,1950. Collection of Tjark and Renate Reiss.

Figure #23. Winold Reiss Studios. Palm decoration, unidentifiedrestaurant. Graphite and tempera on paper, 1940s. Prints andPhotographs Division, Library of Congress. Gift of Tjark and RenateReiss.

Figure #24. Winold Reiss Studios. Chic-N-Coop Restaurant,Montreal. Graphite and tempera on paper, February 1949. Collectionof Tjark and Renate Reiss.

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