Donald Shaw MacLaughlan — The Gateway

Two towers standing either side of the river like a gate.

The document

Towers flank the opening of the river and a clock tower stands at the left, with a smaller pavilion and a bridge below. MacLaughlan drew it from the water side, so the buildings read as two piers of a gate rather than as a street. The smoke going sideways across the sky is his, not the weather's.

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 · The Gateway, etching, 1931. Smithsonian American Art Museum, 1974.85.81. Public domain (CC0).