Train Yard, St. Louis 1919

Joseph Pennell made this drawing of a train yard in St. Louis with graphite on paper. What I notice first is the scumbled, atmospheric quality. You get a sense that he was using the side of the graphite to create these cloudy patches. Up close, you can see so much scribble and hatching. The lines aren't labored, there's a real looseness. But the overall image is quite controlled. Look at the way the railroad tracks in the foreground converge, directing our gaze into that bright, vaporous center. It's like a forceful, linear perspective meets a hazy fog. I'm reminded of Whistler's etchings of industrial London, all that dreamy softness mixed with hard, architectural forms. Art is always a conversation across time. What these artists show us is that even the most gritty, modern subjects can be transformed through mark making. It’s never about a fixed message, always an open question.