In the Stockyards 1916

Lester George Hornby made this print, titled ‘In the Stockyards,’ with etching, a process of mark-making that mirrors the layering and reworking I use in painting. See how the lines, like thoughts, accumulate and build up the image, revealing the process. The surface has this gritty texture, a beautiful accident of the medium. It's all in blacks, whites and grays which, to me, amplifies the feeling of industry and the tough world it depicts. Look at the top of the image. See the word ‘Armour’ spelled out on top of one of the buildings? And the smoke billowing out of the chimneys behind? It feels like a punch in the gut, a raw, powerful statement. Hornby reminds me a bit of Joseph Pennell, another artist who captured the industrial age with such intensity. Both understood how to make beauty out of something so stark, creating a record of a moment in time that still resonates today.