The Great Tower: Pig-Iron
1916
Medium
lithograph
Classification
Department
CG-W
Museum
National Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C.
Credit
Rosenwald Collection
Accession Number
1943.3.6831
Art Historical Context
Joseph Pennell’s *The Great Tower: Pigron* (1916) is a powerful lithograph that captures the awe-inspiring scale of early 20th-century American industry. Part of the National Gallery of Art’s Rosenwald Collection (Department CG-W), this print depicts a towering industrial structure—likely a blast furnace or smokestack associated with pig-iron production, raw material of steelmaking. Pennell, a prolific American artist and master printmaker, was renowned for his dramatic portrayals of architecture and machinery, often transforming gritty factories into symbols of modern progress. Created amid ...
About the Artist
Joseph Pennell · 1857–1926
Joseph Pennell (1857–1926) was born in Philadelphia to Quaker parents and displayed an early aptitude for drawing, finding solace in sketching amid a challenging childhood. He received initial drawing instruction from James R. Lambdin and his first etching lessons from Stephen Ferris in 1879. Pennell attended night classes at the Pennsylvania Museum and School of Industrial Art before studying at ...