The Cotton Exchange
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The New York Cotton Exchange, designed by architect George Post
and completed in 1885, was one of illustrator Hughson Hawley's first
commissioned renderings. The building appears to be constructed
of real stone and brick and the addition of clouds in the sky, adjacent
buildings, signage, and even elements of street life serve to provide
the viewer with a naturalistic and convincing representation of
something that does not yet exist. Hawley set the standard for future
illustrators to follow, working for such renowned architects as
George Post, Cass Gilbert, Francis Kimball, and the firm of McKim,
Mead, and White. The Library's architectural collections document
the development of the perspective rendering in hundreds of examples
from the eighteenth through the twentieth centuries.
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