The exhibition is more than just a collection of retro posters; it is a history book taking us on a journey through the 19th century.
The works on view were targeted at potential customers for Japanese trains, American racecars, Swiss clothing, Italian liqueurs, French cigarettes, and Cuban cigars — among other things.
The show features 100 rare posters from the collection of Sarasota couple Bill and Elaine Crouse.
WUSF's Cathy Carter recently spoke to the lenders about an art movement that transformed modern design in the early 20th century.
Art Deco first gained global attention during a 1925 exposition in Paris. So here we are, 100 years later. What is it about Art Deco that still captures our imagination?
Bill: My answer to that would be that it's timeless. Every object that we own, which is between 85 and 105 years old, looks like it could have been made today.
Elaine: I will add to that, Cathy, and say Art Deco also can be seen in so many areas of art. It touched all aspects of life. It also, at the time, if you understand the history, provided a sense of glamor — a beauty that was otherwise not known at the time.
This was a time between the two World Wars, the beginning of the jazz era, and Art Deco showcased a new modern design and a cultural shift in aesthetic values. I imagine if you were starting this collection today, a lot of these materials would be really hard to find.
Bill: Yes, that's absolutely correct. As you said, they're very rare, especially when you're looking at the highest quality from the most important artists. And if they're not in a museum collection, they're probably in my collection, or they haven't been discovered yet.
Elaine: Also, another aspect, too, the poster art, is an art form that was not supposed to survive. So, with the many, many years of traveling to find these posters, it's just amazing that we can find them that are still intact.
Because we're talking about the age before TV and digital media. So, these posters are basically advertisements. Once the campaign was over, they were just supposed to be taken down and then move on to the next campaign.
Bill: And they were printed on very inexpensive paper. And depending on what the subject matter was, they were printed in very small runs. The Grand Prix of Monaco, for example, they printed posters for Monaco around the race time that was it; they didn't distribute them around Europe.
Even saying that, a big run, I'm guessing, would be like 1,000 posters, because they were hand-drawn. And if they were three colors, that means three times they had to be run through that press. So, it was a very time-consuming process.
How did it come to be that you started collecting Art Deco posters?
Bill: I resisted collecting posters because I was really focused on buying Cubist art. It took me a few years before I started to really hone in on Art Deco.
One thing that's kind of cool about posters is every now and again, you find a beautiful poster from an important artist that's never been published before. I have several of those in my collection, and I'm going to say, off the top of my head, there's probably five or six in the show at Sarasota Art Museum right now.
I think a lot of people recognize the term Art Deco, but not necessarily some of the artists. So, who are some of the more important graphic designers in the Art Deco movement?
Bill: Well, I think you need to focus on the major artists from the major countries. And the major countries are the European countries, the UK, Germany, Italy, and of course, France is number one by far, but the big artists, in my view, in Art Deco are number one by far is Cassandre, then you have Carlu, Colin and Lupot. So, it's the big names, and they're the ones that are published in all of the art books.
The hallmark of Art Deco is geometric shapes, really bold, linear designs and really vibrant colors. I think a really excellent example of that is one of the posters you have called Bouillon Cube, a big bull's head, and a really beautiful cornflower yellow saturated in the background.
Elaine: The backstory on that, Cathy, is that was the first time that it was being advertised to the French housewife that she now could make stock instead of buying a carcass or in the traditional way that you would. Bouillon cubes didn't yet exist prior to 1929, I think.
Well, in addition to the posters, you also have a lot of ephemera from the Art Deco movement, including cocktail shakers.
Bill: I probably 20 years ago, Elaine gave me a cocktail shaker for a present, and now I have, like, 125 cocktail shakers.
Elaine: Remember, it was Prohibition when most of those were being designed, and so people were hiding literally the liquor they were drinking. So, you'll find them to be so figurative, right? It was cool, it was all sassy and it was naughty. But the other side of it is, they were also very celebratory. Maybe they were celebrating a wedding or a birth of a child. You have to put yourself back all of those years, it puts a smile on your face.
"Art Deco: The Golden Age of Illustration" is on view through March 29, 2026 at the Sarasota Art Museum.
