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 6: IV OIL REFINING, POINT BREEZE

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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.

IV OIL REFINING, POINT BREEZE

If any one cares to look up a copy of the Century Magazine—or it was then Scribner's—for about 1880 or 1881, there will be found in it my first published drawing of the Wonder of Work—and of this same oil refinery at Point Breeze. Now I am back in Philadelphia, years after, and I have found the same subject as full of inspiration as ever. And though the editors of that date were willing to publish my drawings of such subjects then—now they won't have them, or use those of my flatterers—I mean imitating thieves. But there is scarce an art editor left—that profession scarce exists any longer.