McKim considered this verdant look for Morgan’s study during the early stages of interior design. But after viewing the art gallery in Lynnewood Hall, the Philadelphia-area mansion of industrialist Peter A. B. Widener, McKim shifted course. “You were kind enough to say last week,” McKim wrote to Widener, “that you would be glad to have Mr. Morgan avail himself of your experience in the selection of a material for the covering of the walls of one of the rooms in the library which we are building for him.” McKim secured fabric samples from Widener’s supplier and ultimately selected a crimson silk with a raised pile, which proved a more suitable backdrop for works of art.
For McKim, Mead & White (artist unknown)
Early designs for the West Room of J. Pierpont Morgan’s Library, ca. 1904
Graphite, watercolor, and tempera
The Morgan Library & Museum, gift of Mr. Walker O. Cain in honor of Charles Ryskamp on his 10th anniversary as Director; 1979.33:6–7