Designs for interior of Shoreham Restaurant. Perspectives and elevations for ceiling lamp, show window, window sign, staircase, and screen renderings 1931

Winold Reiss sketched these designs for the Shoreham Restaurant using graphite and colored pencil. Look at the soft lines and muted tones—it’s like peeking into a dream of a space! I imagine Reiss hunched over the page, trying to capture not just how the space would look, but how it would feel. I can almost feel the light he imagined spilling across the walls. The rendering of the ceiling lamp, for example. It feels like a halo, doesn’t it? And the sparse pops of red and green act like little moments of punctuation, highlighting key elements of the design. Reiss was known for his modernist portraits and interest in exploring cultural identity, so I can’t help but wonder if these designs were, in his mind, a kind of portrait, too. Perhaps he saw the restaurant as a subject with its own unique character. It’s inspiring to see how artists like Reiss contribute to the ongoing dialogue about art, design, and culture. I'm reminded that art isn’t just about the finished product, but about the process of thinking, feeling, and expressing oneself through space.