The Metropolitan Museum of Art Bulletin, v. 37, no. 4

CHILDE HASSAM Old Lace, Cos Cob, 1915
JOSEPH PENNELL Lower Falls, Yosemite, 1912
Hassam, an American Impressionist
painter, turned to printmaking in 1915, the
year in which he etched Old Lace, Cos
Cob. His fine lines and delicate use of plate
tone successfully capture the lightdrenched
Connecticut harbor scene. To
heighten the effect of the swirling water in
this particular impression, Hassam care-
Hassam often explored the patterning
effects of strong lights and shadows.
The etchings, engravings, and lithographs
of printmaker Joseph Pennell focus
on physical settings, whether steel mills,
skyscrapers, historic buildings, or natural
wonders, in which the human element is
purely incidental. Lower Falls, Yosemite,
also for the novelty of restricting the view
to only the lower portion of this wellknown
spectacle. In the Museum's impression,
the first trial proof from the
stone, one is more aware of light and
atmosphere than in the more heavily
inked published state, in which plate tone
conceals much of Pennell's drawing and