Essen, Germany 1911

Editor: Right, next up we have Joseph Pennell’s "Essen, Germany," a monochrome print. It feels so bleak, almost post-apocalyptic with those looming industrial structures. What do you make of it? Curator: Bleak is definitely one way to put it! Pennell often captured these industrial landscapes, but there’s a strange beauty, isn’t there? The way the smoke softens the harsh lines, the delicate detailing despite the subject's intensity... Doesn't it make you wonder what life was like in Essen at that time? Editor: It does... a little suffocating, maybe. Curator: Perhaps, but there's power there too. An artist grappling with the modern world. Thanks for sharing your insight.