Donald Shaw MacLaughlan — Michigan Avenue no. 2

The same avenue, the other way, under weather.

The document

The second of the two Michigan Avenue plates, and the one where the sky does the work: a bank of cloud worked up in fine line above a low, even run of buildings. The street itself is almost empty. Together the two sheets make a pair, which is how they are numbered.

One of the plates of Ten Etched Plates of Chicago, the portfolio MacLaughlan made in 1931. The Smithsonian holds eight of the ten plus the frontispiece.

About the artist

Donald Shaw MacLaughlan (1876–1938) was born in Charlottetown, Prince Edward Island, and died in Marrakesh. He spent three decades etching the old cities of Europe — Rouen, Venice, Paris — and in Chicago he was represented by the Albert Roullier Art Galleries. In 1931, at fifty-five, he made twelve views of Chicago. The following year he took a prize at the Society of Etchers annual in New York.

The print

Printed to order and made to last. Choose Museum Matte (heavyweight matte art paper) or Fine Art Giclée (Hahnemühle cotton paper — the archival standard). The Métrica museum caption — artist, title, date and source — is printed as part of the piece, set in our house type. Free US shipping on orders over $75.

Donald Shaw MacLaughlan · Michigan Avenue no. 2, etching, 1931. Smithsonian American Art Museum, 1974.85.84. Public domain (CC0).