Architectural Study c. 1935 - 1943

Max Mougel made this architectural study, likely in the early to mid 20th century, using etching. Imagine the scratching and biting of acid, the building up of layers, the subtle tones emerging from this labor. I wonder if Mougel felt dwarfed by the buildings he drew? Or maybe he felt excited, like he was capturing the energy of the modern world? Those skyscrapers rising up, and the elevated train line cutting across, it’s all so gritty and grand at the same time. Look at the detail in the buildings versus the softer, more blurry rendering of the people and cars below. It’s like he’s saying, “The city is the star here; everything else is just passing through.” You can see echoes of Piranesi's architectural fantasies in Mougel’s work, that same sense of awe and maybe even a little bit of intimidation in the face of these massive structures. It shows us how artists are always in conversation, borrowing and building on each other's visions across time.