1910
ink
From the collection of National Gallery of Art
Tracks, Oberhausen is a 1910 ink by Joseph Pennell, depicting Factory, held at National Gallery of Art.
You see a dark, smoky city scene with train tracks cutting through the middle. Smoke curls up from a locomotive in the distance. Buildings line the tracks, their windows lit in the gray light. This is an etching called *Tracks, Oberhausen*. The artist used acid to bite lines into a metal plate then inked it. The lines look sharp where the acid ate deep. The smoke feels soft, like a cloud you could touch. The etching feels quiet, even though trains usually mean noise. Look at how the ink pools in the cracks of the plate. Check out more of Pennell’s work at the National Gallery of Art, Washington.
Joseph Pennell (July 4, 1857 – April 23, 1926) was an American draftsman, etcher, lithographer, and illustrator for books and magazines.
See the richer artist page
