We Passed...the Parral c. 1903

Joseph Pennell made this lithograph, "We Passed...the Parral," using grease on stone to create a range of light and dark. The process itself feels very present. It’s like Pennell is thinking out loud, letting us see how he builds up the image, mark by mark. Look closely, and you'll notice the grainy texture, almost like sandpaper, especially in the water. Then there are these bold, almost scribbled lines that define the trees and the buildings in the background. The buildings, particularly the tower, are solid and blocky against the fluid reflections in the water. I find myself drawn to the dark, almost chaotic marks at the bottom left, where the foliage meets the water. There's a sense of energy, a kind of raw, unfiltered expression. It reminds me a bit of Whistler's lithographs, especially in the atmospheric quality, but Pennell has a more direct, less refined approach. It's like he's saying, "Here's what I saw, here's how I felt," without any pretense. And maybe that's what art is all about, the ongoing conversation of seeing and feeling, passed down from one artist to the next.