Towers in the Sun 1933

William Charles McNulty made this etching, Towers in the Sun, at an unknown date using black ink on paper. Look at those tight, almost obsessive lines, packed together to build this epic skyline. It’s like he’s not just drawing buildings, but building them all over again, piece by piece, with the sheer force of his mark-making. You can almost feel the scratch of the needle on the plate, the way he’s layered those lines to create a sense of depth and shadow. See how the light hits those towers, creating these stark, dramatic contrasts? It's a tactile experience, like running your fingers over the rough surface of the city itself. I love how the clouds mirror the jagged edges of the buildings, like the sky is in conversation with the city below. McNulty's work reminds me of Piranesi’s architectural fantasies, but with an American accent. Both artists share this love of detail and this sense of awe at the scale of human construction. It's a reminder that art is always a conversation, a back-and-forth across time and space.