The publishing boom of the early twentieth century led to an entirely new vocation, that of art direction for editorial publications and advertising. In 1921, the recently formed Art Directors Club resolved to show that their profession involved more than just signage for selling products. Their exhibition of paintings and drawings, intended to prove their work worthy of artistic consideration, was judged by a jury that featured some of the era's most distinguished names in illustration and art, including Ashcan School painter Robert Henri; Charles Dana Gibson, creator of the "Gibson Girl"; and outstanding New York artist Joseph Pennell, among others.
This reproduction of the exhibition's catalog offers a generous selection of more than 300 halftone images, accompanied by an appendix of the ads' corresponding sources. New to this edition are added pages of brilliant color reproductions of a selection of the best materials. Entries by leaders in the field include J. C. Leyendecker's ads for Arrow shirts, Maxfield Parrish's Mazda Lamp calendar pages, Franklin Booth's line art, and contributions by Norman Rockwell, Edward Penfield, N. C. Wyeth, and other luminaries. Students of art, illustration, and advertising as well as professional illustrators, historians, and anyone with an appreciation of advertising art will find this volume a richly evocative source of historic commercial art.