The New Rhine 1910

Joseph Pennell made this etching called "The New Rhine," and what strikes me is the way he’s built this whole world out of tiny, energetic marks. You can almost feel the scratch of the needle on the plate. It’s all about texture, with layers of lines creating depth, especially in the murky water and the plumes of smoke rising from the factories. The whole image is a symphony of grays, but look closer, and you’ll see how much variation he gets from just a few simple marks. The way he’s rendered the wall in the foreground with these parallel lines gives it such a sense of weight and solidity. It’s like he’s saying, "This is real, this is here." Pennell’s work reminds me a little of Whistler, someone else who found beauty in the industrial landscape. But there’s an edginess here, a sense of unease that makes it feel very contemporary, like a conversation about the cost of progress. It's more of a question than a statement, and I really appreciate that.