Alfonso Iannelli - Orpheum Theater Poster - Three Beautiful Types

Alfonso Iannelli designed Orpheum LA Poster - Three Beautiful Types.

Alfonso Iannelli was a major American sculptor, poster artist, and graphic designer whose work played an important role in the development of modern American design. He collaborated with Frank Lloyd Wright on Midway Gardens in Chicago from 1912 to 1915, and also worked with Purcell and Elmslie on the Sioux City courthouse project, circa 1916–1920. His creative collaborations also included work with Barry Byrne, John Lloyd Wright, and Bruce Goff on numerous commissions and architectural projects.

Iannelli also designed important displays for the 1933 Century of Progress Exposition in Chicago. He taught decorative and industrial design at both Hull House and the Art Institute of Chicago, where he was honored with a solo exhibition. Throughout the 1930s, 1940s, and 1950s, he remained a highly influential Prairie School-era commercial artist, industrial designer, interior designer, and architectural designer.

Between 1910 and 1915, Iannelli created more than 100 posters for the Orpheum Theater. After his death, six of these posters were reproduced by the Chicago School of Architecture Foundation with permission from Iannelli’s children. Each was published in limited edition and sold through the Foundation’s shop to raise funds for the preservation and maintenance of the Iannelli archives. This poster is from that 1969 fundraising edition.