View from Forest Park, The Chase, St. Louis

Although there are many views within Forest Park that might suggest you are in a wilderness area this previously unpublished sketch, painted mid-summer 2013, depicts the Chase Park Plaza Hotel peaking above the treetops and dense wildflowers in full bloom. The Chase is an art-deco era masterpiece designed by Preston Bradshaw, an architect who prospered during the roaring twenties. Bradshaw designed many hotels and apartment buildings in St. Louis that are still in use including The Mayfair, The Coronado and The Melbourne Hotel, now Jesuit Hall. Early in his career he was a drafstman for the preeminent McKim, Mead & White. That experience is evident in his monumental brick buildings exquistely detailed with stone or terra-cotta details, ornamentation and flourishes.

The Chase, 07/28/2013, watercolor on Canson 140lb cold press, waterbrush, Michael Anderson

Forest Park Skyline, St. Louis

Several buildings along Kingshighway stand above the dense treeline at the edge of Forest Park including the venerable art deco Chase Park Plaza and the Barnes Jewish Hospital complex. It was a beautiful autumn day for water color sketching.

"Skyline, Forest Park", Michael Anderson, 11/18/2012, watercolor on Canson 140lb cold press.