Object Timeline
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1940 |
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2017 |
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2025 |
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Drawing, Design for DeSoto Hood Concept
This is a Drawing. It was designed by John Chilka and from the office of Chrysler Corporation. It is dated 1940 and we acquired it in 2017. Its medium is color pencil, graphite on paper. It is a part of the Drawings, Prints, and Graphic Design department.
These front end concepts for DeSoto automobiles demonstrate two variations on one of the car’s most important design features. DeSoto was an American automobile marque and division of the Chrysler Corporation from 1928–61, and these designs for the 1942 production model represent the forward-thinking features that distinguished the company. Designer John Chilka’s ornamentation scheme cleverly makes the new vertical grill that first appeared in late 1930s automobiles the focal point of the car’s front end—he echoes the vertical lines of the grill in the car’s hood ornament and even in the tire treads to create a graceful and cohesive design. Chilka also illustrates the vehicle’s hidden headlights, an advanced feature that had only previously appeared on the 1936 Cord. These ornamentation designs would have been produced in the final phase of the automobile’s design. Decorative elements were some of the least expensive to change prior to manufacture.
This object was
donated by
Alexandra Herzan and Paul Herzan.
It is credited Gift of Alexandra and Paul Herzan.
Its dimensions are
Frame H x W x D (approx.): 40 × 56.5 × 3.2 cm (15 3/4 × 22 1/4 × 1 1/4 in.)
It is signed
Signed in graphite, lower right: J. J. C. XI-40
Cite this object as
Drawing, Design for DeSoto Hood Concept; Designed by John Chilka (American, b. Czech Republic, 1912 - 1987); Office of Chrysler Corporation (United States); color pencil, graphite on paper; Frame H x W x D (approx.): 40 × 56.5 × 3.2 cm (15 3/4 × 22 1/4 × 1 1/4 in.); Gift of Alexandra and Paul Herzan; 2017-39-5
