Hog Island. Workmen, Scaffoldings and Derricks 1918

Thornton Oakley’s graphite drawing depicts Hog Island, with Workmen, Scaffoldings and Derricks. It’s a symphony in gray here, folks. Look how Oakley coaxes so much out of a simple graphite stick! The textures feel almost palpable. You can sense the rough-hewn surfaces of the scaffolding, the grit of the factory floor, and the billowing steam. I imagine Oakley standing there, squinting through the industrial haze, trying to capture the scale of the construction, the figures of the workers. The artist is clearly interested in the heroic grandeur of labor and industry. With the workers shown in the foreground, we also get a feeling of that uniquely human drama that unfolds on a construction site, full of potential, but also vulnerability. Painters have always looked to each other, and I wonder if Oakley knew Joseph Pennell’s lithographs of the Panama Canal when he made this, also marveling at modern engineering and labor! What do you think?