The Sarasota Art Museum (SAM) on the Ringling College of Art and Design campus has opened "Art Deco: The Golden Age of Illustration," an exhibition of 100 large posters from the Crouse family collection. Curated by Rangsook Yoon, the show celebrates the 100th anniversary of Art Deco, tracing its origins from the Belle Epoque through the 1925 Exposition Internationale des Arts Décoratifs et Industriels Modernes in Paris, and features works by artists such as Alphonse Mucha, Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec, and Théophile-Alexandre Steinlen. The Crouses, who previously lent works to The Guggenheim and the Victoria and Albert Museum, displayed part of their collection at New York's Poster House in 2023-2024.
This exhibition matters because it marks the centennial of Art Deco, a transformative international movement that fused elegance, speed, and modernity across art, design, and advertising. By showcasing rare posters from a private collection, SAM provides a tangible link to a period when advertising was considered high art, offering visitors insight into the cultural shifts of the Jazz Age and the enduring influence of Art Deco on visual culture.