Donald Shaw MacLaughlan — The Heart of Chicago (Evening)

The street closes over you and at the far end, very small, a figure stands on a dome.

The document

The strongest plate of the twelve. A canyon of buildings at dusk, drawn from the middle of the roadway, with cars parked along both kerbs and the crowd reduced to marks. At the end of the corridor a domed tower catches the last of the light, and on top of it a single standing figure. The sky is the only empty space in the sheet.

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 Heart of Chicago (Evening), etching, 1931. Smithsonian American Art Museum, 1974.85.82. Public domain (CC0).

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