Hudson Avenue Completed 1923

Joseph Pennell made this etching, Hudson Avenue Completed, using a pretty restrained palette, mostly delicate lines, which is interesting because it’s a landscape of industry! Look at how he renders that scene: everything’s implied rather than stated, built up from multiple marks. Pennell lets us see the labor of art making. I love the way the surface isn't overworked, it's like he embraces the unfinished. The plate tone gives a kind of hazy atmosphere. See that small mark where the chimney meets the sky? That little burst of darkness gives such drama to the piece as a whole. The city looks like it's about to take off. Pennell was an amazing printmaker, influenced by Whistler, and he saw printmaking as a democratic art form. This piece reminds me a little of Piranesi in that there's this interest in the urban landscape as a site of change and energy, though Pennell is definitely less dramatic. Art is really just a big conversation across time, right? I find a lot of beauty in that conversation.