ERVINE METZL (1899-1963)

THE PERISTYLE / NORTH END GRANT PARK / BY THE ELEVATED LINES. 1921.

40 1/4x27 1/2 inches, 102 1/4x69 3/4 cm.
Condition B: large replaced loss and overpainting in upper image and margin; replaced losses, repaired tears, creases and restoration in margins and image; restoration along vertical and horizontal folds.

Influenced by the cut-out style of Britain's Beggarstaff Brothers, Metzl's posters stood out from those of other young graphic designers working for the Chicago rapid transit and train campaigns. He went on to become a prolific illustrator and author of a 1963 book The Poster. He was also appointed head of the first Citizens' Stamp Advisory Committee, established to advise the Postmaster General on improving the design and colors of American stamps. H.K. Frenzel, writing in Gebrauchsgraphik on August 1, 1930 says, "there is also a solemn romanticism in his treatment of color. He is fond of an indefinite bluish-green and warm, broken tones of brown which remove real objects into regions of romance and the blue-gray twilight hour." Chicago's original peristyle, designed by Edward H. Bennet, sat at the north end of Grant Park (what is today Wrigley Square). It was razed in 1953. Rare. Posters and their Designers p. 95, V&A E.640-1923.