Chicago Travel Poster: Beautiful Churches by the Elevated Lines by Oscar Rabe Hanson, 1923

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Oscar Rabe Hanson’s 1923 poster Chicago’s beautiful churches by the elevated lines turns a church interior into a richly coloured argument for...

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Oscar Rabe Hanson’s 1923 poster Chicago’s beautiful churches by the elevated lines turns a church interior into a richly coloured argument for urban travel. A soaring stained-glass window occupies the centre of the composition, its blues, golds, reds and greens glowing against deep brown architecture. The tight vertical format intensifies the impression of height: clustered figures gather beneath pointed arches, while the window rises towards a circular, rose-like design in the upper section. Rather than presenting the city through streets or skyline, Hanson offers colour, craftsmanship and architectural spectacle.

The poster belongs to the city-promotion campaigns associated with the Insull Transit Poster Campaign, for which Hanson, a Chicago-based artist and illustrator, produced numerous designs. These advertisements encouraged passengers to regard the transit network not merely as practical infrastructure but as a means of discovering Chicago itself. Here, the elevated lines connect the public with the city’s churches, recasting ecclesiastical architecture as an accessible attraction. The result combines the persuasive clarity of advertising with the sense of occasion traditionally cultivated by travel posters.

A closer look

The stained glass forms the poster’s luminous core. Within its tall framework, a central figure in white appears surrounded by radiating light, with smaller figures and decorative motifs arranged in compact tiers. Blue and yellow dominate the circular tracery above, while deeper jewel tones move through the lower panels. Delicate floral patterns and repeated ornamental forms soften the strict architectural geometry, and small attendant figures enliven an otherwise symmetrical design.

Around this bright centre, the church interior is rendered in a much darker register. Heavy arches in brown and near-black create a deep frame, while narrow columns at the left edge reinforce the upward pull of the composition. Below the window, worshippers in muted red and gold establish scale: their comparatively small forms make the stained glass appear still more imposing. The contrast is carefully controlled, with saturated colour concentrated in the window and earthier tones reserved for stone, shadow and the gathered congregation.

The lettering occupies the lower portion without competing with the architectural scene. “CHICAGO’S BEAUTIFUL Churches” uses changes of scale and style to create a decorative headline, while “BY THE ELEVATED LINES” is set more plainly beneath it, delivering the practical message with immediate clarity. Hanson’s visible signature, “O R Hanson”, sits at the lower left. An ornate border encloses the whole design, echoing the patterned edges of the window and making typography, architecture and ornament feel part of a single graphic scheme.

Context and significance

Early twentieth-century transit advertising often sold more than a journey: it promoted habits of movement and new ways of experiencing the modern city. Hanson’s poster is especially engaging because its destination is not one named landmark but a category of places distributed across Chicago. The elevated railway becomes an organising thread, linking neighbourhood architecture and public transport while encouraging riders to look at familiar urban surroundings with the curiosity of visitors.

The design also reveals how readily the travel-poster language of simplified forms and bold colour could accommodate a subject associated with intricate decoration. Hanson does not catalogue architectural details with documentary precision. Instead, he condenses the experience of entering a shadowed church and encountering illuminated glass into a strong, immediately legible contrast. Nearly a century later, that opposition between dark masonry and radiant colour remains the poster’s most compelling feature.

Choosing the right size and finish

Artwork can feel intimate at smaller sizes and dramatically more architectural at larger ones. Use the room preview, model image and size guide to see how the proportions and scale will work in your space.

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The model in the listing images is holding the 18x36in (45x90cm) version of this art print.

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This artwork is also available as a float framed canvas, sometimes known as a shadow gap framed canvas or canvas floater. The work is printed on artist's cotton canvas and then stretched over a handmade box frame. We then "float" the canvas inside a wooden frame, which is available in a range of colours (black, dark brown, oak, antique gold and white). This is a wonderful way to present an art print without glazing in front. See some examples of float framed canvas art and explore the differences between my different finishes.