Letterhead, The Four Seasons Restaurant

When the Four Seasons Restaurant opened in 1959 it established a new standard in fine dining in New York. The restaurant, designed by architects Ludwig Mies van der Rohe and Philip Johnson, featured furniture by both architects and Eero Saarinen, and serviceware by L. Garth Huxtable and Ada Louise Huxtable. A young, independent graphic designer based in Brooklyn--Emil Antonucci--produced the iconic logo of four trees, one representing each season. In Antonucci's design the seasons began with spring, evoked by a pink tree of budding dots. Summer was a leafy green tree in full verdure. Autumn was red, with more visible branches to represent that partial loss of leaves. A brown tree represented winter, with branches bare and cheerfully exposed. The four trees sat atop the restaurant's name THE FOUR SEASONS printed in Chisel typeface. The logo was emblazoned across stationery, coat check tickets, and menus. As the seasons changed, the trees were used in isolation on matchbooks, napkins, ashtrays, and more.
This series of graphic works is from a selection of items sent by the Restaurant Association to graphic designer John R. Scotford, Jr., at his request in 1960, for Darmouth University's Hopkins Center. As the request was made in the winter, certain items feature only the spiky winter tree.

Letterhead, The Four Seasons Restaurant; Designed by Emil Antonucci (American, 1929 - 2006); letterpress on paper; H x W: 27.5 × 21.6 cm (10 13/16 × 8 1/2 in.); Gift of Alexandra Lange; 2024-2-1