Carl Malouf (1916 - 1947) was a Cuban born artist and designer in New York City and Palm Beach. He designed store windows in NYC and was an artist who created paintings, sculpture and mosaics.  He created the four mosaic tile panels that are displayed on the ceiling in the Shell Grotto at the Headley-Whitney Museum of Art in Lexington Kentucky and designed a fountain at Tiffany’s (New York). Many of his paintings had mosaic or tile motifs, such as the floor of “Roman Cats” shown here.  

We have read that he was known for infamous gay parties he threw in New York whose guests included Truman Capote.