The Great Gantry, Charing Cross Station 1906

Muirhead Bone made this etching of The Great Gantry, Charing Cross Station, using a metal plate to create a world of intricate lines. The whole image shimmers, as if the station is still being born. Look at how Bone captures the materiality of the station, all those girders. The way that the strokes build up, dense and layered, mimics the construction itself, the work involved in building something so massive. Notice those tiny figures at the base, dwarfed by the scale of the gantry, and the delicate lines that form the great arched roof. See how the light seems to pour in from the opening at the end of the platform, dissolving the architecture into a haze of atmosphere. This reminds me of Piranesi, with his architectural fantasies, or maybe even some of the industrial scenes of Joseph Pennell. But Bone brings a unique sensibility, turning the mundane into something epic, a celebration of industry and human endeavor. It is a great piece of art, capturing a moment of transformation, and showing us the beauty in the everyday.