South Door, Beauvais

Joseph Pennell, artist

1857–1926

South Door, Beauvais, 1907

Where object was made: France

Material/technique: laid paper; etching

Dimensions:
Plate Mark/Block Dimensions (Height x Width): 280 x 204 mm
Sheet/Paper Dimensions (Height x Width): 285 x 205 mm
Plate Mark/Block Dimensions (Height x Width): 11 x 8 1/16 in
Sheet/Paper Dimensions (Height x Width): 11 1/4 x 8 1/16 in
Mat Dimensions (Height x Width): 20 x 16 in

Credit line: Museum purchase: Letha Churchill Walker Memorial Art Fund

Accession number: 2003.0005.01

Not on display

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Exhibition Label:
"American Etchers Abroad, 1880-1939," Apr-2004, Reed Anderson
"South Door, Beauvais" is one of Pennell’s most Whistlerian compositions. Rather than depict the entire structure or its more famous north door, as many of his contemporaries did, Pennell, employing a centralized motif, devoted his attention to the cathedral’s less impressive, though still magnificent, south portal. Details of the sculpture of the doorway are only suggested; the surrounding architecture
dissolves as one’s eye moves out from the center. For this etching Pennell dispensed with the traditional acid bath. The puddling effect, clearly visible in the print, suggests that he moved the acid carefully over the surface of the plate, possibly with a feather as his mentor Whistler was known to do, for his lines have become less harsh and the range of tones significantly greater.