Rembrandt and Dutch Gallery 44 1939

This watercolor and graphite rendering was made sometime between 1937 and 1975 by Eggers and Higgins, Architects and it proposes an interior for Gallery 44, a space dedicated to Rembrandt and Dutch art. The muted palette here, browns and tans, overlaid on the precision of the architectural drawing, has a slightly faded, vintage feel. I love the way the architects have carefully rendered the play of light on the walls, almost like a Vermeer! Notice the figure standing to the left, a tiny man in a suit, dwarfed by the scale of the gallery. That touch really brings the space to life, giving us a sense of its grand proportions, and of the architects' ambition. This kind of rendering reminds me a little of the work of someone like Edward Hopper, or maybe even Giorgio de Chirico, with its slightly dreamlike atmosphere and subtle sense of unease. It’s a quiet piece, but so evocative.