Joseph Urban

Joseph Urban was one of the most creative and prolific designers and architects of the early twentieth century. His work included magnificent ARt Deco buildings, spectacular Ziegfeld Follies production, and dramatic sets for the Metropolitan Opera, among many other accomplishments. Joseph Urban is a lavish celebration of an artist, with every page filled with his work-drawings, illustrations, paintings, renderings, stage sets-nearly half of which have never before been published.
Joseph Urban began his career as an architect and artist of the Hagenbud, an offshoot of the Vienna Secession movement. Moving to America in 1911 he became art director of the Boston Opera. In 1914 he moved to New York to design stage sets for the Ziegfeld Follies and two years later was signed on as principle set designer of Metropolitan Opera. In New York he quickly became immersed in an astonishing array of projects other than stage sets, designing theaters, department stores, hotel ballrooms, nightclubs, furniture, and Hollywood film sets.
This beautifully illustrated tribute is packed with more than two hundred full-color illustrations. Nearly the entire selection was culled from the Joseph Urban archive in the rare book collection of the Butler Library at Columbia University by John Loring, author and design director emeritus of Tiffany and Co. His accompanying introduction is a fascinating and comprehensive look at a remarkable man's spectacular career.