Land Title and Trust Building with Addition, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, Perspective Rendering c. 1900 - 1904

This rendering of the Land Title and Trust Building in Philadelphia was created by D.H. Burnham & Co. with watercolor, graphite, and touches of opaque paint. I love the way they’ve used soft, washed-out blues and browns, it's almost as if the building is emerging from a dream. The texture is so smooth and controlled, typical of architectural renderings where precision is key. But look closely, and you’ll see these tiny, almost imperceptible variations in color, like subtle shifts in the atmosphere. It’s like the artist is trying to capture not just the building, but the feeling of the city around it. Notice how the watercolor bleeds ever so slightly around the edges of the building, softening its imposing presence. There's something about this that reminds me of those early Hockney paintings of buildings, a similar interest in seeing architecture not as fixed and solid, but as something fluid and alive. And that’s the beauty of art, right? It’s never just one thing; it's always an invitation to see the world in a new light.