Sketch of a European Street Scene

Sketch of a European Street Scene presents an off-center vista down an urban street through a tall, arched portal connecting buildings that range on either side. The structures, several with deep overhanging eaves that suggest a southern European or Mediterranean locale, dwarf a distant crowd of pedestrians massed on either side of an equestrian statue mounted on a pedestal. The elaborate architecture and decorations of the arch are indicated economically by rapid pen strokes. Pennell paid particular attention to the effects of light and shade glancing across the ornate facades of the buildings, while he left broad areas of the paper virtually untouched to indicate the sun-washed sides of the buildings, the street, and the decorative sculpture atop the arch. The composition is unified through the artist's sure grasp of perspective and geometry.

The upright format and deep spatial recession featured in Sketch of a European Street Scene are typical of Pennell's approach to composing the urban scenes in which he specialized. An energetic practitioner with an insatiable appetite for his work, the artist was known to etch his copper plates on the spot, and this drawing too evokes rapid, on-site creation. Although it is not related to any known print Pennell made in 1904, it features architecture typical of Spain, to which he traveled that year to make several etchings of the cities of Toledo and Alcantara.

Ville et campagne: les artistes américains, 1870–1920 (The City and the Country: American Perspectives, 1870–1920), Musée d'Art Américain Giverny, France (organizer). Venue: Musée d'Art Américain Giverny, France, April 1–July 15, 1999. [exh. cat.]

Figures and Forms: Selections from the Terra Foundation for the Arts, Terra Museum of American Art, Chicago, Illinois (organizer). Venue: Terra Museum of American Art, Chicago, Illinois, May 9–July 9, 2000.

Cartwright, Derrick R. The City and the Country: American Perspectives, 1870–1920. (exh. cat., Musée d'Art Américain Giverny). Chicago, Illinois: Terra Foundation for the Arts, 1999. Text p. 26 (checklist).

Cartwright, Derrick R. Ville et campagne: les artistes américains, 1870–1920. (exh. cat., Musée d'Art Américain Giverny). Chicago, Illinois: Terra Foundation for the Arts, 1999. Text p. 26 (checklist).