John De Cesare (1890–1972) was an American ornamental sculptor working on New York Art Deco buildings during the 1920s and 1930s.
In 1948, he retired from sculpture to engage in architectural pencil drawings, especially translating musical scores into graphic representation.
The prevalent architectural Art Deco style was characterized by the variety of materials used (steel, concrete, aluminium, stone, brick, ceramics, glass, etc.)
In 1948, John de Cesare retired from sculpture and started working privately on an amazing series of 250 color pencil drawings also influenced by Art Deco's ornamental style.
20 of these drawings were based on musical scores, from The Star-Spangled Banner to Wagner, from Stephen Foster's Swanee River, to Beethoven's Fifth Symphony, from Gounod's Ave Maria to a Bach Prelude.