Sarasota Art Museum will present "Art Deco: The Golden Age of Illustration" from August 31, 2025, through March 29, 2026, celebrating the 100th anniversary of the style's debut at the 1925 Exposition Internationale des Arts Décoratifs et Industriels Modernes in Paris. The exhibition features 100 rare posters from the 1920s and 1930s drawn from the William W. Crouse Collection, one of the world's most important private collections of Art Deco posters, with works by artists including A. M. Cassandre, Leonetto Cappiello, and Paul Colin. Alongside the posters, the show includes sculptural pieces, vintage cocktail shakers, and furniture from The Wolfsonian-Florida International University, highlighting the luxurious materials and modern design of the Machine Age.
The exhibition matters because it marks a major centennial milestone for Art Deco, a style that evolved from symbolizing wealth and luxury to representing mass production and industrial efficiency after the Great Depression. By showcasing rare original posters that once served as visual billboards for modern living, the show underscores how Art Deco shaped early 20th-century visual culture and advertising before the age of television and digital media. The involvement of the Crouse Collection—built over 40 years—and loans from The Wolfsonian-FIU also demonstrate the ongoing scholarly and collector interest in preserving and interpreting this influential design movement.