Driehaus Museum Press – förlag

Bright and bold and found everywhere in fin-de-sia cle Paris, the poster was a brilliant fusion of art and commerce. New printing methods made it possible to distribute and post vivid full-color prints, spurring both artists and advertisers to take advantage of these public canvases. During its golden age in Paris, the poster was acclaimed for enlivening city streets, even as it was decried for its raucous colors, overt commodification, sexualized female figures, and oversized imagery. Collectors raced to snap up these ephemeral art pieces, sparking a frenzied demand dubbed affichomania, complete with its own experts and specialized publications containing small-scale prints for the home.L'Affichomania: The Passion for French Posters is a lavishly illustrated collection of these posters focusing on the work of five masters: Jules Cheret, the acknowledged founder of the field, Eugane Grasset, Theophile-Alexandre Steinlen, Alphonse Mucha, and Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec. All are drawn from the collection of Richard H. Driehaus. With rising auction prices and the popularity of modern reprints, it is clear that affichomania is here to stay.

"An American Palace: Chicago's Samuel M. Nickerson House" explores the rich and varied history of one of Chicago's grandest Gilded Age residences. Commissioned by Chicago banker Samuel M. Nickerson in 1879, the house was designed by the architectural firm Burling and Whitehouse of Chicago and finished in 1883, during a time of unprecedented economic growth in the Midwest between the end of the Civil War and the outbreak of World War I. Following a long and checkered history of both private and institutional ownership, the property was established as a museum in 2003 by Chicago philanthropist Richard H. Driehaus and underwent a meticulous and extensive renovation before opening to the public in 2008. In addition to featuring exceptionally restored woodwork, stained glass, and tiling, the museum also holds a diverse collection of decorative and fine arts from the period between 1880 and 1920, including one of the country's leading private collections of works by Louis Comfort Tiffany. Today the Driehaus Museum offers visitors an opportunity to experience firsthand the prevailing design philosophies of the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries.Beautifully illustrated, this volume provides a comprehensive history and stunning photographic tour of the Samuel M. Nickerson house while firmly situating it within Chicago's rich legacy of architectural and interior design.