Edward Timothy Hurley, born Cincinnati, - City Towers (Chicago River) - 1934 - T-Shirt

Edward Timothy Hurley's 1934 etching City Towers (Chicago River) turns a riverside stretch of Chicago into a dense, monumental wall of Art Deco skyscrapers at dusk.

Visual Elements & Composition

The print is a horizontal landscape format built almost entirely from charcoal black, which makes up roughly 45 percent of the image, with warm grey carrying much of the middle tones and pale cream paper showing through in the highlights. The towers rise across the upper two-thirds of the frame, with a stepped tower and setback crown standing out among them. Below, a steel-truss bridge with arches spans the river, and small boats sit on the water. The name, the numerals "39," and the word "Finley" appear as small marks within the print.

Meaning & Symbolism

The scene reflects the interwar faith in modern progress, industrial strength, and the dense growth of American cities. Hurley shows the river not as open landscape but as a working corridor of commerce, with the bridge and boats linking the towers to the water they depend on. Hurley, born in Cincinnati, was known for recording urban and natural landscapes, often in etching and painting, and this 1934 plate sits among his records of how American cities changed their shape in the twentieth century.

Framing the Skyline on Your Chest

An etched skyline reads best at a distance, where the tower silhouettes and the bridge arches resolve into one shape. On this tee, the composition carries across the chest as a single block of towers over water, so the dark mass of the buildings sits at the top of your outline and the boats and bridge sit lower. The image works as a conversation piece for anyone who notices how Hurley built his skyline from light and dark.