A designer and painter, Donald Deskey was born in Blue Earth, Minnesota and established a career in New York City where he became especially known for his sumptuous, elaborate art-deco interior design of Radio City Music Hall in the late 1920s. One of his earliest supporters in New York was Edith Halpert, owner of the first American art gallery dedicated to sales of modernist artists. A major influence on his style was his visit in 1925 to Paris to the Exposition Internatonale des Arts Décoratifs et Industriels Modernes. This event, which featured modern, streamlined design, was key to the future direction of his career.

Having been chosen by the Rockefeller Center architects for Radio City, Deskey was...