Under the Bridges 1910

Joseph Pennell's ‘Under the Bridges’ is a symphony in sepia; a world created with ink, paper and a whole lot of imagination. You can almost feel the scraping of the etching needle across the plate as he coaxes this industrial scene into being. I imagine Pennell, hunched over his plate, obsessively building up layer upon layer of fine lines. Those criss-crossing marks, they're not just describing form; they're conjuring atmosphere, a kind of melancholic haze hanging over the water. The contrasts are stark. I'm drawn to the bridge's skeletal form; it looms overhead, its dark mass a counterpoint to the faint glimmer of light on the river. It's like he is using shadow to build substance. This piece feels like a conversation with Whistler's nocturnes and even Piranesi’s architectural fantasies. It reminds us that artists are always in dialogue, transforming what they see, feel, and remember into something entirely new.