The Walled City 1912

Joseph Pennell made ‘The Walled City’ with lithographic crayon. It’s all about process. You can tell Pennell is really thinking through the making of this thing. Look at how he’s layered the crayon to build up this epic landscape. The texture is really interesting: these deep, dark areas against the lighter spaces. It’s like he's feeling the weight of the rocks, but at the same time, he is allowing the light to come through. It reminds me of how Agnes Martin would build up her grids, one tiny mark at a time. Notice those vertical strokes in the sky? It's almost like rain, but it's also the movement of the crayon itself. It's a reminder that this is not just a picture of a place, it's a record of an action, a series of decisions, of Pennell trying to capture something huge with something small. It's like a conversation between him and the stone.