On the Way to Bessemer by Joseph Pennell

This is an industrial etching by American artist Joseph Pennell. The scene is somewhere in Pennsylvania (a bridge aficionado could probably pinpoint the locations). Bessemer furnaces are producing billows of black smoke as the factories produce the steel that is building American in the early 20th century. A paddlewheel steamer plies the river, while trains occupy the tracks along the river. Pennell was fascinated by industry and they are the subject of many of his etchings. This is a deep impression that is well inked. The paper is in pristine condition with no flaws. The etching is signed and titled in the plate lower right. It is reversed as is common in the printing process. A great etching but one of the best etchers of the early 20th century.
Joseph Pennell (1860-1926)

Pennell was born in Philadelphia and studied at the Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts. Much of his time was spent in Europe, particularly in London, where he was greatly influenced by Whistler. His subjects are chiefly landscapes and architectural views, and his art is distinguished for its simplicity, technical perfection, and illustrative quality.
Pennell began his career as an illustrator. Following his marriage Pennell settled in London where he became friends with Robert Louis Stevenson, George Bernard Shaw and James Whistler. In the late 1880s, he was art critic of the Star newspaper. Following in the footsteps of Whistler and such French lithographers as Toulouse-Lautrec, Théophile-Alexandre Steinlen and Odilon Redon, Pennell began experimenting with lithography. Pennell, like Whistler, was on the executive committee of the International Society of Sculptors, Painters and Gravers, and was put in charge of the hanging of prints for their first exhibition in 1898.
Pennell was known for his outspokenness and deep-seated convictions. According to Hartrick, It is a great mistake to believe that Pennell kow-towed to Whistler and was a mere echo of his opinions. He had a sincere admiration for his talent as an artist and was influenced in his own work by his technique in etching, but he held his own end up always.
He is represented by etchings, drawings, and lithographs in the Library of Congress, Washington, D.C.; Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts; Carnegie Institute, Pittsburgh; and Brooklyn Museum, N.Y. Pennell was a member (1909) of the National Academy of Design and of numerous European societies and was a lecturer on illustration at the Slade School of Art, London, and the Royal College of Art, South Kensington. (From AllRefer.com and the Center for Whistler Studies, Glasgow)

Size: 1908
Price: $450
Size: 12.5 x 19 inches
Plate Size: 11 x 7 inches
Condition: Pristine
Medium: Etching
Subject: Architecture & Cityscape

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