Square drawing in gouache with an overall pattern design of what appear to be stylized, elongated guitars (shaped like stretched out figure-8’s) positioned at different angles. Most of the guitar bodies are cream with orange necks/fret boards and cream tuning pegs. A few have cream bodies and necks (no distinguishable fretboards) with orange tuning pegs. The background and the sound holes are chocolate brown. The ends of the guitar necks bend to their right. Some of the guitars are drawn in loose perspective with a part of one side or a bottom visible. The sides are rendered with simple orange accents which against the cream suggests some kind of shadow. There is a sense of musicality to the layout - the relative brightness (cream color) of the flat sinuous guitar shapes facing different directions comprise the main motif and keep the viewer moving throughout the pattern; the contrasting linearity of the necks and the orange accents create a sense of dynamism, and the sets of tiny tuning pegs (3 on each side of the neck) interspersed throughout the pattern are like delicate trills. The instruments seem cartoonish, with not realistic guitar proportions, however their various sizes, shapes, and positions serve to pleasantly fill the space.

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See more objects with the tag graphic design, pattern, music, textile design, repeat, musical instruments, violins.

Object Timeline

1930	Work on this object began.
1992	We acquired this object.
2011	We photographed this object.
2015	We photographed this object.
2016	We photographed this object.
2017	We exhibited this object.
2024	You found it!

Object ID #18640379

This is a Drawing. It was designed by Tommi Parzinger. It is dated ca. 1930 and we acquired it in 1992. Its medium is brush and gouache, graphite on paper, lined. It is a part of the Drawings, Prints, and Graphic Design department.

This playful pattern of stylized violins by Tommi Parzinger captures the dynamism of jazz and swing music. Similar to Ruth Reeves’s textile designs for Radio City Music Hall featuring abstracted instruments, Parzinger uses invigorating colors, high contrast, and an all-over pattern, characteristics that would define his textile designs for the next decades. While there is no evidence that this design was ever produced, Parzinger’s work shows an approach to modernism that includes whimsical details.

It is credited Gift of Donald Cameron.

Drawing, Design for Carpet, Mezzanine and Second-Floor Restaurant, International Casino Stairway, 1530 Broadway, New York, NY

Drawing, Design for Carpet, Mezzanine and Second-Floor Restaurant,...
brush and brown and tan gouache, graphite on off-white illustration board,....
Gift of Donald Deskey.
1975-11-41

Drawing, Design for Carpet: Still Life with Musical Instruments, Radio City Music Hall, New York, NY

Drawing, Design for Carpet: Still Life with Musical Instruments, Radio City...
brush and gouache, graphite on cream wove paper, lined.
Gift of Donald Deskey.
1975-11-73

Textile (USA)
cotton.
Gift of the Estate of Ella Ostrowsky.
1976-98-8

Our curators have highlighted 4 objects that are related to this one. Here are three of them, selected at random:

Drawing, Design for Carpet: Guitars and Cocktail Glasses for Radio City Music Hall, 1260 Sixth Avenue, New York, NY

Drawing, Design for Carpet: Guitars and Cocktail Glasses for Radio City Music...
brush and brown, tan and blue gouache, graphite on cream illustration board,....
Gift of Donald Deskey.
1975-11-43

Black rectangular rug made out of wool. It has a thick gray border followed by a smaller outline on the inner portion. The corners have an abstract basket weave design also in gray. The rug is showing some wear and may have had a lighter color in the past. The basket-weave pattern is cut in the corners and has a small circular red accent on each of the inner portions of the patterns. At the center of the rug is a floral wreath in an abstract rendition. Its details are in red, yellow, and red-yellow gradients. At the back of the abstract flowers, following the direction of the wreath, is an oblong shape made of the basket-weave design similar to the ones found on the corners.

Object ID #907214275
wool.
Lent by Yale University Art Gallery, John C. Waddell Collection, Gift of John....
65.2016.2

Carpet For Radio City Music Hall (USA)
wool.
Gift of Mrs. Robert Blasberg in memory of Robert Blasberg.
1987-69-1

Its dimensions are

H x W: 14 × 14.3 cm (5 1/2 × 5 5/8 in.)

It is inscribed

Inscribed in graphite, lower center on mat: Textile Design, Tommi (Anton) Parzinger. USA ca. 1930

Cite this object as

Object ID #18640379; Designed by Tommi Parzinger (American, b. Germany, 1903–1981); USA; brush and gouache, graphite on paper, lined; H x W: 14 × 14.3 cm (5 1/2 × 5 5/8 in.); Gift of Donald Cameron; 1992-51-55

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

Short URL http://cprhw.tt/o/2Dx8R/
Accession Number 1992-51-55
Object ID 18640379