Cranes, Bessemer 1909

Curator: Right now, we’re looking at Joseph Pennell’s “Cranes, Bessemer,” an etching he created in 1909. It's currently held in the collection of the Art Institute of Chicago. Editor: It hits you immediately, doesn’t it? This industrial dreamscape, all smokestacks and skeletal cranes reaching up. There's something delicate in the lines, almost as if this brutal, manufactured world is breathing. It’s less a celebration, and more a kind of awed observation, you know? Curator: Pennell, a staunch modernist, was quite fascinated by industrial scenes. It really ties into that era’s complicated dance with modernity: the simultaneous excitement and apprehension around progress. What might be less evident initially, I suppose, is how this work situates the artist in relation to prevailing themes of urbanisation and labor rights debates. Editor: That’s a clever connection. So, he’s not just recording what he sees, he’s implicitly taking sides? He really captures a raw, chaotic kind of beauty, as unsettling as it is compelling. Those haphazard lines—they give it a vibrancy that a more polished, composed depiction would lack. And all those crisscrossing girders... Makes me almost claustrophobic! Curator: Yes! The crisscrossing lines certainly lend to the feeling of complex and maybe dangerous networks of power. Art critics have historically talked about how artists like Pennell approached industrial settings to evoke awe, like a new sublime. The etching method suited his style because it mirrors the industrial grit that the city exudes. Editor: Hmm, the sublime... I see it, though. I'm still fixated on how he's able to suggest the sheer scale of this industrial site without overwhelming the viewer. The smokestacks fade into the background haze, really drawing you in! It doesn't glorify industry as much as meditate on its looming, unavoidable presence. Curator: That's right. Through this medium, the artist could make commentary about American industrial expansion at the turn of the century. There's so much to interpret within this artwork about socio-historical realities. Editor: Looking at it again, this makes you really pause about human endeavor. Beautiful, and brutal all in one sweep. I'm seeing things in an entirely different light, and so appreciate you opening up so many contextual frameworks to explore them. Curator: It's my pleasure. And that is where the charm of art lies, isn’t it? Forever offering something new.