Blackstone Alley, San Francisco 1926

James Blanding Sloan made this etching of Blackstone Alley in San Francisco back in 1926. There’s a big, almost comical, machine smack dab in the middle of the frame. It’s like the artist wanted to capture the city's mechanical heart, all gears and muscle. I wonder what Sloan was thinking when he decided to immortalize this scene. The details, the way he etched the lines, it's like he was trying to freeze a moment of change, construction, maybe even disruption, into something permanent. You know, artists are always in conversation with each other across time. This reminds me of those urban landscape prints by the Ashcan School, that shared grittiness and honesty. This print has a bit of that same rebellious spirit—embracing the chaos and finding beauty in the everyday. It's like Sloan's saying, "Yeah, the world's messy, but look at the beauty in the process." And isn't that what art's all about, anyway?