East End 1907

Joseph Pennell made "East End" by etching an image of a French street onto a metal plate. You know, I can almost feel Pennell there, scraping and biting into the metal. It's kind of a moody scene, all done in these muted, earthy tones. The architecture feels so solid, and the light is caught in all the right places. You get the sense that Pennell was just wandering around, looking at the world, finding beauty in everyday things. I wonder what it was like for him, standing on that street corner, deciding what to capture. Did he struggle with what to leave out? I do that all the time, trying to make decisions. It reminds me of Whistler's prints, that same attention to atmosphere and texture. It's like they’re having a quiet conversation across time, about seeing and feeling.