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 37: XXXVI THE GREAT STACK, SHEFFIELD

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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.

XXXVI THE GREAT STACK, SHEFFIELD

If either you have the brains, or it is clear enough, you can see this great stack dominating the whole landscape and townscape as you come out of the railroad station at Sheffield. A great American literary person actually saw it and regretted, on an editorial page, that no artist ever looked at such subjects; but when I not only wrote him that I had etched it already and sent him a proof to prove it, he never acknowledged my letter, but he kept the proof. I may say that in 1883 I made a series of illustrations of work subjects in Sheffield which were printed in Harper's Magazine. Two things always impressed me in that town—the boiling water in the rivers and the abominable habits of the natives in the streets, who from across the rivers and behind walls and other safe places "'eave arf a brick" at you if you dare to draw.