Eaton's Department Store, Toronto, Canada, Perspective Study

Architecture and Design

1912

D.H. Burnham & Company
American, 1891-1912

With its origins in early 19th-century Europe, the department store in North America evolved into a major feature of the urban landscape. A pioneer in many areas, the architect Daniel Burnham created new spaces for successful department stores such as Marshall Field and Company in Chicago and T. Eaton Company in Toronto. With these buildings Burnham borrowed from religious, civic, and domestic architectures to present complete and fantastic interior worlds, with restaurants and lounges, monumental public atria, entertainment venues, and model-home interiors—all of which could be visited in a single day.

Status: Currently Off View
Department: Architecture and Design

Artist: D.H. Burnham & Co. (Architect)
Title: Eaton's Department Store, Toronto, Canada, Perspective Study
Place: Toronto (Building address)
Date Dates are not always precisely known, but the Art Institute strives to present this information as consistently and legibly as possible. Dates may be represented as a range that spans decades, centuries, dynasties, or periods and may include qualifiers such as c. (circa) or BCE.: 1912
Medium: Graphite on tracing paper
Inscriptions: Inventory number 65 noted at bottom right corner. Initialed at bottom left edge: "J.B.L. del." Manuscript note at bottom right edge: "T. E. Building D. H. B Co., Archs. 20 January 1912 ". Initialed bottom right corner, "P.A."
Dimensions: 121.5 × 83.5 cm (47 7/8 × 32 7/8 in.)
Credit Line: Purchased with funds provided by the Benefactors of Architecture Endowment Fund
Reference Number: 1986.4

The Art Institute of Chicago, “Past Forward: Architecture and Design Collection at the Art Institute,” January 21, 2018–November 4, 2018.
The Art Institute of Chicago and travel exhibit, “Chicago Architecture: 1872-1922,” 1987-1989, cat. no. 220.
The Art Institute of Chicago, “D.H. Burnham and Mid-American Classicism,” 1996, cat. no. 23.

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