Official Ancon, Administrative Buidlings
Joseph Pennell American
Not on view
Pennell, a Philadelphia-born Quaker, spent the first two decades of his career abroad, living primarily in London, where he became a close associate of Whistler. This lithograph was made after the artist toured Panama and looked at the engineering works in progress for the Panama Canal. Of this subject, he wrote, "Amid these royal palm groves work and live many of the members of the Isthmian Canal Commission–the rest are on the high hill at Culebra.To the secretary, Mr. J. B. Bishop, and to his family, I am endlessly indebted for endless help while on the Zone. Ancon is a perfect Japanese town–built by Americans–and the interiors of the houses here and at Culebra are as delightful as their owners are charming."
