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JOSEPH PENNELL
1857 - 1926
PICTURES OF THE WONDER OF WORK 1916 - PICTURES | |
PICTURES OF THE WONDER OF WORK 1916 - TEXT |
WASHINGTON IRVING'S ALHAMBRA, 12 LITHOGRAPHS 1896 | |
WASHINGTON IRVING'S ALHAMBRA, SPECIMEN DOUBLE PAGES 1896 |
HIGHWAYS AND BYWAYS OF EAST ANGLIA 1901 |
A LITLE BOOK OF LONDON 1911, images and texts 1901 |
ETCHING AND ETCHERS, 1936 |
The Coming Illustration, Imprint, 1913 |
Pictures of War Work in England 1917 | |
The Liberty Loan Poster |
PICTURES OF PHILADELPHIA 1914 1926 | |
illustration of trees from Ellwood |
Pennell was born in Philadelphia where he was trained before making the European trip to learn and draw. In 1884 he settled in the UK which became his working base. He wrote extensively, not least about his master J.M.Whistler whose 2 volume biography (1906) he undertook together with his wife, Elizabeth. When attracted to unusual subjects he was at his inventive best. But he was too prolific, reaching too often for the genteel and picturesque subject with a shallow vignetted approach. He is at his best in the illustrations to Walter Besant's East End of London, and in the War Work in England. He doesn't really thrive on modernity but keeps one cautious foot in the print making conventions. |
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