The Times Building 1904

Editor: Here we have Joseph Pennell's "The Times Building," created around 1904, using graphite and possibly lithography. It’s such a delicate cityscape. The way the towering building is rendered in soft pencil strokes almost makes it feel ephemeral. What can you tell me about this piece? Curator: This work brings up the tension between the rapidly industrializing city and the hand of the artist. Pennell is not merely depicting the Times Building, but is actively *producing* an image, mediated through specific material processes – pencil, paper, and the techniques of drawing and printmaking. How does the mass production of images, using lithography for example, affect the reception of such a distinctly urban monument, given that images of the building would have also appeared in newspapers? Editor: That's a really interesting point about mass production. It makes me think about accessibility and who would have been able to see this image versus experiencing the actual building. Do you see this as a celebration of the modern city, or perhaps a commentary on its impact on daily life and labour? Curator: Both! The "Times Building" signifies technological advancement but also evokes concerns around labor. Buildings are not magically there. Someone made the paper, someone designed and constructed that building using extracted resources. Where were these materials sourced, by what labour means, and at what environmental cost? This image becomes a trace of a vast network of production, even a critical reflection on those networks, which is mediated through pencil, lithography, and etching practices. Editor: So, even a seemingly simple drawing like this can reveal complex relationships between materials, labour, and the representation of progress. I never thought about a cityscape like this before! Curator: Exactly. Art like this prompts us to ask critical questions about how things are made and what those processes reveal about the society that produced them.