Joseph Pennell has been called the "Dean of American Printmaking" and "pictorial laureate of the last phase of the industrial revolution." Born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, Pennell attended the Pennsylvania School of Industrial Art and Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts before opening his own studio in 1880. He quickly became established as an artist and illustrator and traveled widely in the United States and Europe, based first in London (1884–1917) and then in New York City (1918–1926). Pennell was active in both fine art and commercial venues, exhibiting his work widely and also publishing his drawings and prints in books and articles authored by himself; his wife, journalist Elizabeth Robins Pennell; and such leading literary figures as Henry James and Washington Irving. The Pennells were also devotees, friends, and biographers of artist and fellow American expatriate, James McNeill Whistler. (Library of Congress)
