Joseph Pennell's Pictures of the Wonder of Work / Reproductions of a Series of Drawings, Etchings, and Lithographs, Made by Him about the World, 1881-1915, with Impressions and Notes by the Artist

Chapter 13: XII EDGAR THOMSON STEEL WORKS

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About This Book

An illustrated collection of drawings, etchings, and lithographs made worldwide between 1881 and 1915, accompanied by the artist's impressions and descriptive notes. The introductory essay argues for treating industrial and manual labor as a legitimate pictorial subject, surveying earlier artists who found beauty in mills, harbors, and urban works. The plates reproduce scenes of engineering, construction, maritime and urban labor, with captions and commentary that emphasize technique, composition, and the human element in work. The volume balances visual reproductions with reflective commentary on the aesthetics of labor and the practical processes behind the subjects depicted.

XII EDGAR THOMSON STEEL WORKS

I found these works and this view of them on a trolley ride out of Pittsburgh. They group themselves under their canopy of smoke as finely as any in the world, and every works in the Wonder of Work has character—just as a tree has—but how much more impressive is a row of blast furnaces, oil wells, and coal breakers, than trees! Yet these are the subjects of our age—naturally, scarcely any one ever looks at them, especially artists—though I hear the "young artists" of America have with money prizes been encouraged to take up "Labor" as a change from painting "murals"—but you can't help people to be artists or to see things, they must do it for themselves. The only artists who see things in the world are engineers and a few architects, for the mill has taken the place of the cathedral—and the great craftsmen who once worked for Popes now work for captains of industry—for art follows money.