Teri J. Edelstein on “Art Deco from Paris to Chicago: The 1925 Exposition and the Windy City” presented by the Caxton Club, Chicago Collections Consortium, and the Union League Club of Chicago Library

May Evening Program

Teri J. Edelstein

The 1925 International Exposition of Modern Decorative and Industrial Arts in Paris articulated a “moderne” style known today as Art Deco. Elements of this style were seen earlier in the city but the Exposition played a major role in bringing a new zest for design innovation to Chicago. Local brands, ranging from Marshall Field’s to a ladies’ compact manufacturer in Elgin, expressed these contemporary trends. This program will examine how the attitudes and products from the 1925 Exposition came to the Windy City and the ways in which Chicagoans used them to participate in a world-wide design movement.

Dr. Teri J. Edelstein, curator and museum consultant, is principal of Teri J. Edelstein Associates, Museum Strategies. She served as Deputy Director of The Art Institute of Chicago and previously as director of The David and Alfred Smart Museum of Art and the Mount Holyoke College Art Museum. She has taught at several universities. Her numerous publications include many articles and exhibition catalogues as well as the books Perspectives on Berthe Morisot and Art for All: British Posters for Transport. She contributed a major essay to Art Deco Chicago: Designing Modern America. Most recently, she curated Everyone’s Art Gallery: Posters of the London Underground for The Art Institute of Chicago.