Joseph Pennell was an American

United States

The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...

 artist and author.

Biography

Born in Philadelphia, and first studied there, but like his compatriot and friend, James McNeill Whistler

James McNeill Whistler

James Abbott McNeill Whistler was an American-born, British-based artist. Averse to sentimentality and moral allusion in painting, he was a leading proponent of the credo "art for art's sake". His famous signature for his paintings was in the shape of a stylized butterfly possessing a long stinger...

, he afterwards went to Europe and made his home in London. He produced numerous books (many of them in collaboration with his wife, Elizabeth Robins Pennell

Elizabeth Robins Pennell

Elizabeth Robins Pennell was an American writer who, for most of her adult life, made her home in London...

), but his chief distinction is as an original etcher and lithographer, and notably as an illustrator

Illustrator

An Illustrator is a narrative artist who specializes in enhancing writing by providing a visual representation that corresponds to the content of the associated text...

. Their close acquaintance with Whistler led the Pennells to undertake a biography of that artist in 1906, and, after some litigation with his executrix on the right to use his letters, the book was published in 1908.
Pennell visited San Francisco in March 1912 where he undertook a series of so-called "municipal subjects". These were exhibited in December 1912 at "the prestigious gallery of Vickery, Atkins & Torrey", according to Mary Millman and Dave Bohn, authors of The Master of Line: John W. Winkler, American Etcher , (Capra Press: Santa Barbara, CA, 1994). It is possible that Pennell's visit inspired San Francisco printmakers Robert Harshe and Pedro Lemos, along with sculptor Ralph Stackpole

Ralph Stackpole

Ralph Ward Stackpole was an American sculptor, painter, muralist, etcher and art educator, San Francisco's leading artist during the 1920s and 1930s. Stackpole was involved in the art and causes of social realism, especially during the Great Depression, when he was part of the Federal Art Project...

 and painter Gottardo Piazzoni

Gottardo Piazzoni

Gottardo Fidele Piazzoni was a Swiss-born American landscape painter, muralist and sculptor of Italian heritage, a key member of the school of Northern California artists in the early 1900s....

, to found the California Society of Etchers in 1912, now the California Society of Printmakers

California Society of Printmakers

California Society of Printmakers is the oldest continuously operating association of printmakers and friends of printmakers in the United States. CSP is a non-profit arts organization with an international membership of print artists and supporters of the art of fine printmaking...

. Longtime members of California Society of Printmakers believe that Pennell was a member of the New York Etchers Club, established in 1877, although his membership in the New York Etchers Club is not confirmed.

Pennell did the poster for the fourth Liberty Loans campaign of 1918. It showed the entrance to the New York City

New York City

New York is the most populous city in the United States and the center of the New York Metropolitan Area, one of the most populous metropolitan areas in the world. New York exerts a significant impact upon global commerce, finance, media, art, fashion, research, technology, education, and...

 harbor under aerial and naval bombardment, with New York in flames and the Statue of Liberty

Statue of Liberty

The Statue of Liberty is a colossal neoclassical sculpture on Liberty Island in New York Harbor, designed by Frédéric Bartholdi and dedicated on October 28, 1886...

partly destroyed, her head and her torch blown off.

External links

• The Winterthur Library Overview of an archival collection on Joseph Pennell.
• Joseph and Elizabeth R. Pennell's papers at the Harry Ransom Center, University of Texas at Austin