The Woolworth Building 1915

Joseph Pennell made this print of The Woolworth Building using etching. It's all in these delicate lines, like a whispered drawing. I can imagine him, back then, trying to capture the dizzying height, looking straight up. What do you focus on when you look up at a skyscraper? It's interesting to see how another artist deals with this problem. He must have been thinking about how to make the building feel both solid and like it's dissolving into the sky. Notice the marks in the sky, they are like the building is exhaling into the atmosphere. It reminds me of Piranesi, another artist obsessed with scale and architecture. It’s like they are both in a secret club of building watchers! Artists, we're always looking at each other, borrowing, stealing, and riffing off each other's ideas. And isn’t it incredible how a bunch of lines can give you such a sense of place and feeling?