Léon Bakst revolutionized theatrical design with vibrant colours, exotic motifs, and unified aesthetics, transforming stage productions into harmonious works of art that continue to inspire students and modern designers alike.
Hartwell Memorial Window by Tiffany
Agnes Northrop, leader of Tiffany’s female designers, “the Tiffany Girls,” crafted the luminous 1917 Hartwell Memorial Window — a masterpiece of light, color, and glass-painted landscapes.
Freedom From Want by Norman Rockwell
Rockwell’s joyful Freedom From Want — originally a wartime vision of Roosevelt’s Four Freedoms — became America’s most beloved Thanksgiving image, raising $132 million in war bonds.
Smash the Hun
Hopper’s raw 1918 propaganda poster Smash the Hun — dismissed by its creator as “pretty awful” — unexpectedly launched his career, winning $300 and captivating thousands of Broadway passersby.
Rooms by the Sea
Hopper’s Rooms by the Sea transforms Cape Cod light into an image of solitude, where an interior opens abruptly to the vast, silent sea—echoing Romantic ideas of isolation, contemplation, and the presence of nature beyond human enclosure.
Hand With Seaweed and Shells by Émile Gallé
Gallé’s Hand With Seaweed and Shells echoes Baudelaire’s vision of the sea as a mirror of the human soul, transforming glass into a poetic symbol of fluid identity, where nature, life, and mortality merge in ambiguous, oceanic reflection.
SS Normandie Poster by Cassandre
Cassandre’s poster for the SS Normandie transforms the ocean liner into an Art Deco icon of speed, scale, and modern elegance, using bold geometry and streamlined design to celebrate French technological ambition and luxury travel.
Mother and Child by Pablo Picasso
From the Mother’s Day, Pablo Picasso’s Mother and Child (1921) at the Art Institute of Chicago presents a serene, monumental bond between mother and infant, reflecting classical harmony and emotional stability.
Suzanne Valadon
Suzanne Valadon rose from poverty in Montmartre to become a model for major artists and later a pioneering painter, known for bold nudes and powerful, psychologically charged self-portraits and family scenes.
A Religious Scene in Thessaloniki
Konstantinos Maleas’s Religious Scene reflects early 20th-century engagement with Thessaloniki’s newly uncovered Byzantine mosaics, especially the Enthroned Virgin, a visual tradition also documented by Walter S. George during his 1907–1909 studies for the British School at Athens.