Simply wonderful, Oil on canvas. Signed and dated 1987. This piece was painted later in Hugo Gnam's life, but still captures the sleek lines and vivid colors of the Art Deco era he loved.

Hugo Gnam was a Manhattan based designer who flourished in the Art Deco era.

Swiss-born Mr Gnam is another designer revenant along with T.H. Robsjohn-Gibbings, Warren McArthur, Edward Wormly and Haywood Wakefield.

Mr Gnam who trained in Zurich, was determined to embellish the cool lines od Deco.  There is a primitive force and simplicity to his drawings of rooms and furniture. His oil paintings are an idiosyncratic blend of Henri Rousseau, Salvador Dali and Frida Kahlo.

"Gnam was great" said Paul Donzella owner of Donzella Gallery on East 10th St, NY. He anticipated the look of the 40s by 20 years. His works were steamlined but incorporated more decorative touches in a completely original way.

In the early 1930s Mr Gnam collaborated with Urdan on a showroom at the Metropolitan Museum of Art and designed an installation at the Brooklyn Museum.

Throughout the 1930s Mr Gnam's public and private commissions include - Offices in the Empire State Building, Penthouses on Fifth Avenue all were featured in design magazines.