Collection of the Crouse Family. Image credit: Courtesy of Poster House.
Collection of the Crouse Family. Image credit: Courtesy of Poster House.
Collection of the Crouse Family. Image credit: Courtesy of Poster House.
Collection of the Crouse Family. Image credit: Courtesy of Poster House.
Collection of the Crouse Family. Image credit: Courtesy of Poster House.
Collection of the Crouse Family. Image credit: Courtesy of Poster House.
Collection of the Crouse Family. Image credit: Courtesy of Poster House.
Collection of the Crouse Family. Image credit: Courtesy of Poster House.
Collection of the Crouse Family. Image credit: Courtesy of Poster House.
Art Deco: The Golden Age of Illustration
August 31–March 29, 2026
This exhibition is made possible, in part, with generous support from:
Platinum Sponsors
Judy and Fred Fiala
Gold Sponsors
Charlotte and John Suhler
Silver Sponsor
Gerald and Sondra Biller
Huisking Foundation
Audrey and Walter Stewart
Sarasota Art Museum shines a spotlight on Art Deco as the artform celebrates its centennial anniversary. Art Deco: The Golden Age of Illustration showcases 70 rare posters from the Crouse Collection created by some of the world’s earliest, master graphic designers during the 1920s and 1930s.
During the 1920s, a bold new artistic style roared to life: Art Deco. This exciting, dramatic, and glamorous new genre bid farewell to the soft, organic forms of Art Nouveau and soon took the world by storm. One of Art Deco’s most significant contributions was the art of printed graphics, giving birth to the disciplines of illustration and typography that permeate our world today.
Featuring subjects ranging from automobiles, airlines, and ocean liners to drinks and tobacco, the works represented in Art Deco: The Golden Age of Illustration celebrate modernity, dynamism, and luxury—the dreams and desires of the turbulent early twentieth century.
In addition to the iconic posters, Art Deco: The Golden Age of Illustration conjures the era’s design aesthetic with selected sculptural works and cocktail shakers from the Crouse Collection, and Art Deco furniture pieces on loan from the Wolfsonian Museum at Florida International University in Miami.
Featured poster designers include Lester Beall, Leonetto Cappiello, Jean Carlu, A. M. Cassandre, Paul Colin, Austin Cooper, Jules Courvoisier, Edward McKnight Kauffer, Charles Loupot, Leo Marfurt, Gert Sellheim, Federico Seneca, and Roger de Valerio.