The City of Towers
Medium
Etching in black on cream laid paper
Dimensions
Image: 26.5 × 32.4 cm (10 7/16 × 12 13/16 in.); Plate: 27 × 32.9 cm (10 11/16 × 13 in.); Sheet: 29.1 × 35.1 cm (11 1/2 × 13 7/8 in.)
Classification
etching
Department
Prints and Drawings
Museum
Art Institute of Chicago
Accession Number
51334
Rights
Public Domain
Art Historical Context
Created in 1909, Donald Shaw MacLaughlan’s etching *The City of Towers* captures the dramatic vertical growth of early twentieth-century urban landscapes. Rendered in black ink on cream laid paper, the work belongs to the Prints and Drawings collection at the Art Institute of Chicago. Measuring roughly 10 by 13 inches in the image area, the print invites close looking, its fine lines inviting viewers to explore the dense cluster of towers that give the composition its title. Etching was a favored medium during this period for its ability to combine precise detail with expressive freedom. MacLaughlan used the technique to translate the energy of a modern city into delicate yet bold contrasts of light and shadow. The cream paper enhances the richness of the black ink, creating a warm, tactile surface that rewards careful examination. As a work on paper rather than canvas, *The City of Towers* reflects the democratic spirit of printmaking, allowing such images to reach wider audiences through editions. The piece stands as a quiet record of a moment when cities were reshaping themselves skyward, offering today’s visitors a glimpse into both artistic craft and the changing face of the modern world.
About the Artist
Donald Shaw MacLaughlan · 1876–1938
Donald Shaw MacLaughlan (1876–1938) was born on November 9 in Charlottetown, Prince Edward Island, Canada, though he is recognized as an American artist after his family relocated to Boston, Massachusetts, in 1890. There, as a teenager, he immersed himself in the Boston Public Library's collections of old master prints, studying works by Albrecht Dürer, Rembrandt van Rijn, and eighteenth-century E...