The Square, Independence Square, Philadelphia 1920

Joseph Pennell’s etching from the turn of the century captures Independence Square in Philadelphia with a flurry of delicate lines. I can almost feel him there, scratching away at the plate, trying to catch the light as it filters through those old trees. There’s such a sense of transience here. Pennell has built up the image with so many tiny gestures that together they have captured the light on the spire of the church. But each line itself is so fleeting, it must have taken a sustained effort. It reminds me of Whistler, or even some of the impressionists, these guys were constantly chasing the ephemeral. It’s like they were trying to pin down a feeling, a memory, something just out of reach. And that's painting, isn't it? A constant reaching, a conversation across time, each artist building on what came before, trying to say something new about what it means to be alive.