The Gates of the City 1922

John Taylor Arms made this print, The Gates of the City, and it's all about lines, isn't it? Like a spider web made of steel and stone. Arms was into etching, a process where you scratch lines into a metal plate, and the lines hold the ink. Look closely, and you can see how each tiny mark builds the whole picture. The texture is smooth, almost cool, like the metal itself. But there's warmth too, in the way the light catches on the towers in the distance. See how the cables curve and cross? They make these diamond shapes, like little windows framing the city beyond. It's almost like the bridge itself is breathing, expanding and contracting with the rhythm of the city. It makes me think of Piranesi, but instead of dungeons, we get industry.