In 2013 the Art of Institute of Chicago presented an exhibition that connected popular fashion with art in the golden age of Impressionism in Paris, France. As the curator asked: “Were the Impressionists fashionistas?”

In a dazzling exhibition, the curators make their case that the artists not only chronicled the fashion trends of their world but also showed how they influenced fashion.

The immortal Impressionists, Renoir, Monet, Manet, Degas, are not the sole examples of artists connected to fashion. Chicago’s great commercial artists of the early decades of the 20th century during the Golden Age of magazine publishing also used fashion to sell products and in the process influenced fashion itself. Look at a few examples:

NO, it’s Chicago artist McClelland Barclay’s painting for a hosiery ad.

Proper rectitude wouldn’t allow showing the ladies’ full legs but the impression is conveyed that women who wear Holeproof Hosiery are stylish and modern.

NO, another advertisement based upon art from Barclay.

Products were promoted by association with appealing art even products that could not be seen in the advertisement.

We don’t even know if the model is wearing a Gossard corset as it would have been indecent to show the young woman in nothing but a brassiere and corset but the impression is still conveyed that a women in a Gossard corset will be like a picture of perfection.

NO, it’s a advertisement for sink cleanser. A woman who fancies herself as stylish as a socialite wouldn’t countenance a stain in her bathroom sink would she?

Until mid-20th century when the advent of television changed advertising dynamics, the art shops of Chicago created images that defined style and fashion. They are the forgotten artists of Chicago.