Parliament Street, Westminster 1904

Joseph Pennell made this print of Parliament Street, Westminster with etching, drypoint, and aquatint, so there's already been a whole dance of trying things out. Look how he lets the architecture just emerge from a light ground, finding its form in a mesh of tangled lines. The lines are so delicate, almost like he's sketching with acid and ink. You can see him thinking, almost shivering, as he captures the weight and stature of these old buildings. I wonder what he was thinking, setting up his easel amidst the hustle and bustle of London. The way he has captured the buildings, they almost seem to breathe and sigh like a living thing. It makes me think about Piranesi and how he could turn stone into feeling! Artists look, and think, and feel, and then they make something, and then we can look and think and feel too!