Edward Timothy Hurley, born Cincinnati, - Electrical Fountain, Chicago Fair, 1934 - 1934 - T-Shirt

This etching with aquatint shows a night scene at the Chicago World's Fair, built around the illuminated Electrical Fountain and the modern structures that rose around it.

Visual Elements & Composition

The print is worked entirely in tones of near-black, mid gray, and light gray, with the paper's off-white showing through in the highlights. Dark masses of foliage anchor the lower edge, while a leafy tree stands in the foreground beside a curving path lined with bare trees. A rounded grassy mound and a circular roundabout draw the eye toward the centre. On the right, tall cylindrical towers rise into the dark sky, and the observation tower, with its saucer-shaped top set on splayed lattice legs, becomes the focal point. The visible inscription "Hurley" and the numeral "74" sit among the marks of the plate.

Meaning & Symbolism

The Electrical Fountain was a major attraction at the 1934 fair, which operated under the theme A Century of Progress. Its lit spectacle stood for science, electricity, and industrial ingenuity, offering visitors a futuristic picture of a brighter tomorrow at a time when the Great Depression weighed heavily on the country. Edward Timothy Hurley, a Cincinnati-based artist and printmaker, was known for atmospheric views of cities, landscapes, and architecture, and this work records a moment of mid-century American optimism through his close attention to the built environment.

Designed for the Tee

A night scene this quiet and tonal suits a shirt that is worn close to the body and seen up front, where the tower and its surrounding trees sit at chest height. The composition is dense with fine line and shadow, so the artwork reads best when you stand back and take in the whole skyline, the way the fairgoers of 1934 would have seen the grounds after dark.