Stock Yards, Chicago 1910

Joseph Pennell made this etching of the Chicago Stock Yards at the turn of the century, and what strikes me is the sense of industry, captured with such delicate lines. You can really see how the artist is thinking through the process in each individual mark. The physical presence of the steel and timber is conjured through the density of line, with thin, transparent strokes building a sense of depth across the image. Look closely at the way the wooden pens are rendered, the lines are almost scribbled, chaotic, mirroring the frenzy of the animals held within. It's like Pennell is trying to show us not just the scene, but the feeling of the place. It's funny, looking at this I'm reminded of Piranesi, another printmaker obsessed with scale and industry. Both artists seem to find a strange beauty in the man-made, even when it's something as unsettling as a stock yard. It shows the ways artists can transform our understanding, finding multiple meanings in the same subject.