This painting was commissioned for the Occidental Restaurant. It depicts the restaurant and the Willard Hotel just prior to World War I. Gus Buchholtz, a noted Washingtonian and owner of the Occidental can be seen standing in the doorway of the restaurant, while elegant ladies sachet through the street with well-dressed gentlemen admiring the scene. The Willard Hotel and the Occidental were the most elegant places to meet at that time and for the decades following. |