The Lion, Chicago 1910

Joseph Pennell made this etching, The Lion, Chicago, probably sometime in the early 20th century. It's all in blacks, grays and whites, like a faded memory. I can imagine Pennell outside, sketching the bones of the city, those heavy buildings, the lion statue in the foreground, maybe trying to capture the feeling of a city that's both solid and ephemeral. There's a kind of frantic energy in those etched lines, right? As the city rises up around you, there are these ghostly clouds and the steamy breath of the early industrial era. He’s caught a moment of enormous change. You can almost hear the clatter of streetcars and feel the grimy air. It’s like he’s saying, "Hey, look at this! It’s beautiful and terrible all at once." Painters are always talking to each other across time. Pennell was surely looking at Whistler or maybe even Hokusai for ways to capture a fleeting moment. It’s all one big conversation.