Shot 1916

Joseph Pennell made this print using etching, a process steeped in tradition yet adaptable to modern subjects. The image pulsates with the energy of a city at night, likely New York, where Pennell was working. Etching is an indirect process; the artist protects a metal plate with a waxy ground, then draws through it to expose the metal. Acid bites into these lines, which are then inked to produce the print. Here, Pennell uses the medium to capture the dynamism of modern industry. Notice the network of beams cutting through the sky, likely searchlights. They evoke not only the spectacle of the city, but also its potential for surveillance, a new phenomenon in the age of mass media. Pennell's choice of etching elevates this scene. He is asking us to see industrial modernity, not as a brute force, but as something worthy of aesthetic consideration. Ultimately, it's a reminder that even the most seemingly mundane materials and processes can be used to create profound and thought-provoking art.