With today’s buildings drafted and designed on computers, hand-drawn designs are a rare commodity. Even before computers came into the picture, most architects didn’t sketch their own renderings. So when you find a picture created by the original architect, you have come across a treasure.
Beauty is in the Eye of the Beholder
Most collectors of architectural drawings look for pieces by architects they know of. Often they will buy art that they can show off and explain to their friends. In addition, buyers aren’t always architects themselves. Children that dream of becoming architects often grow to have an appreciation for architecture as I did thanks to my father.
Fine art is defined as “art (such as painting, sculpture, or music) concerned primarily with the creation of beautiful objects.” In the eyes of these collectors, architectural renderings by the greats are indeed beautiful. They are able to appreciate the lean and linear features of technical drawings.
Art and Science Together
“Architecture is art and science enclosing a space,” David Jameson states in an interview by Art & Antiques. I believe this is an excellent description of how these two seemingly opposite ventures can come together to create something beautiful. These pictures must be both visually appealing and scientifically balanced.
Drawing as a Lost Art
In his article for the New York Times, Michael Graves mourns the loss of imagination that occurs when architectural drawings are only created by a computer. “In a handmade drawing, whether on an electronic tablet or on paper, there are intonations, traces of intentions, and speculation. This is not unlike the way a musician might intone a note or how a riff in jazz would be understood subliminally and put a smile on your face.” Those are the details that give each hand-drawn piece its personality, its intrigue.
Begin Your Collection of Fine Art
If you are looking for the perfect piece to begin your own collection or add to it, visit our GALLERY. We have beautiful, original pieces by Raymond Loewy and several other artists. Each piece has its own intonations and speculation, and both aesthetically and scientifically interesting.
