1929 Varin View of the Wells and Clark Street Bridges, Chicago, Illinois

This is a 1929 Raoul Varin aquatint view of the Wells and Clark Street Bridges across the Chicago River in Chicago, Illinois. Looking west along the Chicago River, the Chicago Tobacco Works and the Western Transportation Company appear in the foreground. Boats line the Chicago River, and the span of the Clark Street Bridge is turned horizontally to allow a boat to pass. The Wells Street Bridge still spans the river and has not yet been swung upward for the boat. The top of the courthouse is visible over the buildings, along with the steeples of several churches.

Source Print

Varin based this work on an 1861 view made by Edwin Whitefield. This view is nearly identical to Whitefield's work. The coloring and the typeface used for the title are the only differences.

Aquatint

Aquatint is a printmaking technique that has been used since the 18th century. In aquatint, the artist creates an image by marking on the surface of a copper or zinc plate. The marks hold the ink, which is then transferred to paper when the plate is passed through a printing press. One of the innovations of the aquatint process was the ability to create tonal variation depending on how the image was etched onto the printing plate.

Publication History and Census

This view was created by Raoul Varin and published by A. Ackermann and Son in Chicago in 1929. Varin produced a series of thirty-one views of Chicago between 1926 and 1932, each issued in a limited edition of 125 prints. The present print is hand-numbered in the lower-left corner and is number 90 of 125, and it is signed by Varin on the lower right. Today, Varin's prints are known to have suffered from poor framing and are generally not in the best condition. The presently offered print, however, is stunning.