Chicago-based painter Louis Grell was nearly forgotten until family members alerted Elmhurst's Theatre Historical Society about the over 300 commissions he did in movie palaces and hotels in the 1920s and 1930s. We revisit the story.

Chicago-based painter Louis Grell was nearly forgotten until family members alerted Elmhurst's Theatre Historical Society about the over 300 commissions he did in movie palaces and hotels in the 1920s and 1930s.

Hale Aspacio Woodruff (American, 1900–1980), The Mutiny on the Amistad, 1939, oil on canvas, 72 x 120 inches. Collection of Talladega College, Talladega, Alabama.© Talladega College. Photo: Peter Harholdt

Dramatic works of art by a little-known artist, African-American painter Hale Woodruff, visit Chicago for the first time.