The Woolworth through the Arch 1921

Curator: Let’s spend some time with Joseph Pennell’s 1921 etching, "The Woolworth through the Arch," currently residing here at the Art Institute of Chicago. Editor: Oh, the Woolworth Building! I've always thought of it as a defiant finger to the sky. In this print, it looks like a pale apparition, seen through this darkly ornate archway...a ghostly glimpse of progress. Curator: Right, and the technique of etching is key to understanding Pennell’s focus. Look at the varying densities of lines he used to create texture. Consider how he, through the application of acid to the metal plate, gives this impression of both monumental scale and intricate detail. Editor: You can practically feel the grit of the city here, the hustle beneath the tower's shadow. It makes me wonder about the unseen hands that built both the arch and that skyscraper… their labor, their dreams… Curator: Pennell was deeply interested in modern industry, you know. He explored the depiction of construction sites and factories throughout his career, fascinated by the means of production shaping urban landscapes. The paper choice here, too, it feels almost utilitarian, underscoring that material reality. Editor: I see that…and yet, there's this romantic haze about it all, don’t you think? The soft focus almost mythologizes the city. Like we are looking into one of Piranesi's capriccios of Roman ruins—re-imagined, of course, for the age of the skyscraper. Curator: Interesting take! But what do you mean, mythologizes? I see the way the arch frames the Woolworth building as more of an exercise in spatial composition; it’s as if the older Beaux-Arts aesthetic is yielding to the modern thrust skyward... Editor: I see your point! But look closer! Pennell isn’t just documenting; he’s capturing a feeling, a particular mood in New York at that time—the way it simultaneously inspired awe and instilled a deep melancholic feeling. And for me this sensation makes the work deeply, even surprisingly, intimate. Curator: Well, regardless of how we interpret his approach, I find the etching serves as an insightful document, capturing a pivotal moment in New York’s architectural identity and the materials it’s made of. Editor: Yes, exactly. This makes me think about the stories etched not just into the plate but into the bricks and steel of New York. It has been great to view things differently, thank you!