Portrait of Joseph Pennell
1917
ink
From the collection of National Gallery of Art
1917
ink
From the collection of National Gallery of Art
You see a man from behind, bent over a cluttered table. Sunlight pools on his back. Ink bottles and papers litter the surface. The lithograph in black feels soft, like a sketch you’d expect in a studio. This isn’t a stiff portrait. Hassam made it fast, in one sitting. You can almost hear the stone slab under the artist’s hand. Try looking up Hassam, Childe next.
