Kick-Off Bash Shows Posters For Grownups

Being wealthy doesn't mean you have a wealth of interest in traditional art.

For James Pritzker, some of the most profound artwork of the past century has come in the form of posters, which he collects and shows at the Pritzker Military Library on Fairbanks Court.

"I don't claim to be an art critic," says Mr. Pritzker, grandchild of A. N. Pritzker, founder of the Hyatt chain. "It's different than a Picasso, Van Gogh or even Remington. But in terms of cultural and technological history, poster art is just as powerful."

Mr. Pritzker - an investor, philanthropist and retired military officer - will be among some 300 poster-art lovers expected to attend the opening night preview party Friday for the International Vintage Poster Fair, coming to the Chicago Cultural Center this weekend.

The event will feature more than 10,000 vintage posters from 25 dealers around the world, ranging in price from a few hundred dollars to as much as $28,000. Proceeds benefit the Evening Associates of the Art Institute of Chicago.

Along with Mr. Pritzker, guests expected to attend include Jeanne Gills, partner at Foley & Lardner LLP; Sarah Elizabeth Ippel, founder and executive director of the Academy of Global Citizenship, a charter school, and William Noonan, vice-president and general manager of Merchandise Mart Properties.

David Gartler, owner of Poster Plus Inc. on Michigan Avenue, helped lure the annual fair to Chicago from New York 16 years ago. This weekend, he'll be offering rare posters showing the city's elevated trains in the 1920s, as well as some from the 1933 World's Fair.

"People like posters because they're a safe way of putting something up on the wall," Mr. Gartler says. "If you put up an abstract piece of art, people say, 'What the hell is that?' If you put up a poster that shows

March 22, 2008