The Basilica of War 1916

Joseph Pennell made this drawing, "The Basilica of War," with graphite on paper. The marks are so alive, aren't they? You can really see him working through the image, hatching the lines to create the space. It’s like a fever dream of industry. The graphite is so immediate, it feels like you're watching the scene materialize before your eyes. I love the way he contrasts the heavy, solid machinery with the light, airy strokes above. The gears, like monuments, are so solid, while the space above is a flurry of tentative marks. I'm thinking about Piranesi and those vast architectural spaces of his, where the human figure is dwarfed by the scale of the buildings. Pennell's really tapping into something similar here, that feeling of being overwhelmed by something much larger than yourself. It's like the machines are taking over, becoming the new cathedrals, a space of awe and terror all at once. Art, like war, contains multitudes.