WILMINGTON, DE.- The Delaware Art Museum presents “Jazz Age Illustration,” running through Sunday, January 26, 2025. This much-anticipated original exhibition kicks off DelArt’s “Year of the Illustrator.”

"Jazz Age Illustration” is the first major exhibition to survey the art of popular illustration in the United States between 1919 and 1942, drawing from DelArt’s extraordinary illustration collection and showcasing loans from museums, libraries and private collectors. Featuring more than 120 works of art by prominent illustrators, “Jazz Age Illustration” examines the new mass visual culture that emerged after the end of the First World War—a period characterized by cultural vibrancy and dramatic social change.

“Jazz Age Illustration” tells a story of popular culture and the press that reflects the energy and diversity of this iconic era. Illustrators recorded the rise of jazz musicians, flappers and film stars. It was the age of the Harlem Renaissance with magazines and newspapers dedicated to African American audiences featuring extraordinary artists like Aaron Douglas and Loïs Mailou Jones. Howard Pyle’s students Frank Schoonover and N. C. Wyeth were reaching the pinnacle of their careers during this era, and women artists were forging successful careers as illustrators. The exhibition includes original paintings and drawings that appeared in “Vogue,” “Vanity Fair” and “The Saturday Evening Post,” and in books by F. Scott Fitzgerald and Alain Locke.

DelArt’s Curator of American Art, Heather Campbell Coyle shares, “We welcome audiences to visit this extraordinary exhibition and explore the images that defined the Jazz Age. In this period before photography dominated popular media, illustration captured the attitudes and shaped the aspirations of Americans. Illustrated magazines reached millions of Americans each month. Today they provide amazing glimpses into Jazz Age style and culture. And there’s something for every taste, from Norman Rockwell’s realism to Art Deco design. ”

DelArt's Year of the Illustrator

Executive Director Molly Giordano says, “The Museum’s ‘Year of the Illustrator’ kicks off with ‘Jazz Age Illustration,’ and it’s a unique opportunity to showcase how illustration reflects and shapes the spirit of an era." The exhibition celebrates changing fashions, exciting nightlife and African American culture during the Jazz Age.

Following “Jazz Age Illustration,” DelArt's Year of the Illustrator continues with “Imprinted: Illustrating Race,” traveling from the Norman Rockwell Museum to DelArt in Fall 2025.