The Spanish decorative painter José María Sert (1874–1945), was one of the most dazzling and highest-paid artists of his time, in the first half of the 20th century. His imaginative and opulent designs for luxurious private villas and public buildings, inspired by Italian Cinquecento art, made him a favorite of the Parisian and New York haute volée. Trained artistically in his father’s business—a tapestry manufacturer—he moved to the French capital in his mid-twenties and set up a stu…