The Vision But something was missing in the art of the old buildings he loved to study. Mr. Nixon realized the contemporary art did not complement their excellent craftsmanship; contrary to old, intricate, architectural prints he had seen in his college research. The vast majority of contemporary interpretation was to impressionist to capture their elegance. The warmth and human quality of the beautiful embellishments of the classic stone and terra cotta reliefs were being lost in the art of general street scenes.

Marketplace Need And richly detailed, framed architectural prints of European cities were hanging in corporate offices and retail shops all over the town? Prints of old European engravings and etchings were filling a void in the art market that should have been filled with ornamental prints of Chicago. Either no one had taken advantage of the opportunity to supply the public these graphics or no one had realized the market's needs.

The Future Mr. Nixon saw the potential for new, high quality architectural graphics of Chicago's historic buildings, monuments, and ornamental decoration that could rival the seventeenth, eighteenth, and ninteenth century etchings and engravings of Rome, Athens, and Paris. In 1987 he began to draw a series of master original pencil drawings that could be reproduced in lithograph and gravure prints for the gen?eral public. The series is called: "CLASSIC CHICAGO: THE ART OF ARCHITECTURAL DRAWING". Writ?ing stationery cards with matching envelopes are also available of many of the major cultural institutions and landmarks. They are called: "THE MUSEUM COLLECTION," "THE CLASSIC COLLECTION", and "THE ADLER PLANETARIUM ART DECO ZODIAC".