East River 42nd Street c. 1932

Bernhard Gutmann made this etching, "East River 42nd Street," sometime in the early twentieth century. I can see the artist relishing the gritty textures of industrial New York with these tightly woven hatching marks. The whole scene—cranes, smokestacks, skyscrapers—is composed of lines that give a sense of constant motion and energy. Gutmann is working with a restricted palette of silvery grays and blacks. I can imagine him carefully controlling the depth and saturation of the lines to evoke a feeling of atmosphere. Look how he captures the feeling of dense fog or smoke through the delicate gradations of tone. It’s like he is drawing with acid, burning the image into the plate with a needle. I wonder if he was inspired by Joseph Pennell, who also made etchings of New York's changing skyline? Artists are always looking at each other’s work and riffing on it, keeping the conversation going. The more things change, the more they stay the same, right?