Harold Kerr Eby, N.A. 1890-1946.

Reference is made to the catalogue raisonne by Bernadette Passi Giardina, Kerr Eby: The Complete Prints Bronxville, New York: M. Hausberg, 1997.

All works are signed in pencil unless indicated.

Click on the small images for larger screens. The large image files are hyperlinked.

Connecticut

The Cow Shed. 1946. Etching, aquatint and sandpaper ground. Giardina 211. 9 5/8 x 15 1/8. Edition 100. Hinge stains in the margins, well outside the image, otherwise good condition. A rich impression printed on cream wove paper with full margins. Signed and annotated 'imp' (imprimit) in pencil, indicating a proof printed Eby. $850.

Day's End, Driftway. 1939. Etching and aquatint. Giardina 196. 8 3/8 x 15 3/8 (sheet 11 3/8 x 18 1/2). Edition of approximately 100. Prints III (November 1932): 29. A rich impression with plate tone printed on cream wove paper. Signed and annotated 'imp' in pencil indicating an impression printed by the artist. $1,250.

Driftway, Moonlight 1931. Etching and aquatint. Giardina 168.viii. 8 5/8 x 15 5/8 (sheet 2 1/2 x 18 7/8). Edition 100. A rich, tonal impression printed on cream wove paper. Illustrated: Dorothy Noyes Arms, "Kerr Eby, Etcher." Mat line from a former mount. Signed and annotated 'imp' in pencil, indicating a proof printed by the artist. $1,250.

Still Hollow. 1936. Etching, aquatint, and sandpaper ground. Giardina 185.ii. 10 3/16 x 14 1/2 (sheet 13 1/16 x 17 7/8). Edition 100. Illustrated: Fine Prints of the Year, 1936. A rich tonal impression printed on cream laid paper. A rich impression printed on white wove paper with full margins. Signed and annotated 'imp' (imprimit) in pencil, indicating a proof printed by Eby. $2,250 the pair.

Accompanied by the preliminary drawing: Still Hollow. c. 1936. Preliminary pencil drawing for the etching, Giardina 185.ii. 11 3/4 x 12 1/2 (sheet 12 1/4 x 15 5/8). A fine drawing on watercolor board. Signed in pencil, lower right. $2,250 the pair.

Tide Mill Marshes. 1927. Etching. Giardina 111. 7 x 12 1/2 (sheet 11 3/8 x 16 5/8). Edition 90. A rich tonal impression printed on cream laid paper. A rich impression printed on cream laid paper with full margins. Signed and annotated 'Ed90' and 'imp' (imprimit)in pencil, indicating a proof printed by Eby. $1,750 the pair.

Accompanied by the preliminary drawing: Tide Mill Marshes. c. 1927. Preliminary pencil drawing for the etching, Giardina 111. 9 9/16 x 14 1/2. A fine drawing on watercolor board. Signed in pencil, lower right and lower left. Annotated in pencil "Connecticut Shore" on the verso. $1,750 the pair.

Maine

Little Hall's Island. 1940. Etching and sandpaper ground. Giardina 199. 10 x 15. Edition 100. Little Hall's Island is located off the coast of Friendship. Maine. Signed and annotated 'imp' (imprimit) in pencil, indicating a proof printed Eby. $750.

New York

Burns Brothers, Sutton Place. 1922. Etching. Giardina 90.iv. 12 1/4 x 8 3/4 (sheet 16 x 12). Edition 50. A rich, tonal impression printed on cream-colored laid paper. Signed and annotated 'imp' in pencil. $750.

No. 1 Wall Street. c. 1930. Preparatory drawing for the etching (Giardina 148). 16 1/8 x 10 1/4 (sheet 17 1/2 x 12 1/2). Outline sketch, verso; complete image, recto. Drawn on 3 assembled sheets of Bristol board with a blindstamp, upper right. Unsigned. Provenance: a private collector. $750.

No. 1 Wall Street. 1930. Etching and sandpaper ground. Giardina 148.ii/iv. 16 x 10 3/8 (sheet 18 3/8 x 12 1/4). Trial proof No. 2, previous to the edition 90. Giardina describes it: 'Plate rebitten; large building at upper left better defined and windows indicated; some lines -- including cable from derrick at left -- removed from space between large building and church; scattered new work throughout, including vertical shading in lower left corner of space to right of church and extending to top of church door.' A rare working proof printed on cream Van Gelder Zonen laid paper. Signed and annotated "Trial No 2.' and 'imp' in pencil, indicating a proof printed by the artist. $750.

No. 1 Wall Street. 1930. Etching and sandpaper ground. Giardina 148.iii/iv. 16 x 10 3/8 (sheet 18 31/4 x 12 1/4). Trial proof No. 5, previous to the edition 90. Giardina describes it: 'Plate rebitten again; some lines added to large unshaded area at center of steeple to indicate diamond-shaped window and horizontal bands on right facade; vertical shading added earlier to lower left corner of space to right of church now reduced to extend only halfway up church door.' A rare working proof printed on cream Van Gelder Zonen laid paper. Signed and annotated "Trial No 5.' and 'imp' in pencil, indicating a proof printed by the artist. $750.

Europe

Killan Pass [Landscape with Mountain]. c. 1925. Etching. Giardina 105.vii/ix. 8 1/2 x 12 1/2 (sheet 10 x 14). Unpublished; small number of proofs only. A rich impression with tonal wiping, printed by the artist on cream laid paper, on the full sheet with deckle edges. Trial proof with additional work on the cloud aove the small peak; zigzagging line forms circle in upper left corner. Signed and annotated "trial proof" and 'imp' in pencil, indicating a proof printed by the artist. Signed in pencil. $275.

World War I.

"The Caissons Go Rolling Along". 1929. Etching and sandpaper ground. Giardina 145. 17 3/8 x 9 1/2 (sheet 18 3/4 x 11 1/2). Edition 90. Slight mat line, otherwise find condition. A rich impression with plate tone, printed on antique laid paper. Illustrated: Flint, Contemporary American Etching, 1930; Illustrated: Dorothy Noyes Arms, "Kerr Eby, Etcher." Prints III (November 1932): 20. Signed and annotated 'Ed 90' and 'imp' (imprimit) in pencil, indicating a proof printed Eby. $1,250.

A Kiss for the Kaiser. 1919. Drypoint. Giardina 35. 9 3/16 x 8 1/2 (sheet 12 3/4 x 11). Edition 75. A richly-inked impression with tonal wiping, printed on cream laid paper. Signed and annnotated 'imp' in pencil, indicating a proof printed by the artist. $1,850.

Machine Guns. 1921-22. Etching. Giardina 64.ii. 7 x 11 1/2 (sheet 9 3/8 x 13 3/4). Published state from the edition of 75. Toning in the image area; otherwise find condition. A rich impression printed with plate tone, printed on cream wove Van Gelder paper with full margins. Signed and annotated 'imp' (imprimit) in pencil, indicating a proof printed Eby. $750.

Open Action. 1926/1928. Etching. Giardina 124. 7 x 15 1/8 (sheet 12 3/4 x 15 1/4). Trial proof, prior to the edition of 90. A rich, tonal impression printed on Van Gelder cream laid paper with wide margins and deckle edges on two sides. Signed and annotated 'trial' and 'imp' (imprimit) in pencil, indicating a proof printed Eby. $1,500.

September 13, 1918. St. Mihiel [The Great Black Cloud]. 1934. Etching, aquatint and sandpaper ground. Giardina 182.iv. 10 3/8 x 16 (sheet 13 1/8 x 18 1/4). Edition 100. Illustrated: Prints vol. VI, no. 2, 1935, page 85; Print Collector's Quarterly 26 (1939): 82; Fine Prints of the Year, 1935; Eby. War. Provenance: Frederick Keppel & Co. A rich, beautifully wiped impression on cream-colored wove paper. igned and annotated 'imp' and 'Edition 100' in pencil, indicating a proof printed by the artist. Housed in an archival French mat and a 21 x 25-inch black and gold classical wood frame.This is Eby's most famous etching. Price upon application.

Kerr Eby was born in 1890 in Tokyo, Japan, the son of Methodist missionaries from Canada. Returning to that country when he was three, Eby grew up studying art, which his parents encouraged, as his mother came from a family of prominent artists. Harold Kerr Eby was born to Canadian Methodist missionaries in Tokyo, Japan, on October 19, 1889. At the age of three his family moved to Vancouver, B.C. and by the time he was twelve, he had lived in Vancouver, Kingston, Toronto and Bracebridge. He worked as a 'printer's devil' on the Bracebridge paper, and at fifteen he took his savings and moved to New York with the dream of becoming an artist

After graduating from high school in 1907, Eby moved to New York City to study art, first at the Pratt Institute, and later at the Art Students League.. He enrolled in art classes at Pratt Institute while working for a lithographic firm earning $4.00 a week. His pay barely covered his room and drawing supplies. Within a year, life became desperate for the young artist. Starving and feeling defeated, he left in the spring for home in Canada and was employed by a surveying party in Northern Ontario. While in this northern wilderness, Eby regained his dream of becoming an artist, and in his spare time he started to draw his surroundings.

By fall he had saved enough money to return to New York. He attended night classes at the Art Students League while working for another lithographic firm. He spent several more summers surveying in Northern Ontario before he was able to make a living as an illustrator. During this period he formed a number of influential friendships with major artists such as John Henry Twachtman and Childe Hassam and joined a summer artists' colony founded by them at Cos Cob, Connecticut. He supported himself by working as a magazine illustrator and at the American Lithographic Company. Through study and practice, Eby refined both his drawing and printing techniques.

In 1917, when the United States entered World War I, Eby joined the U.S. Army. He tried to obtain a commission as an artist, but was assigned first to ambulance duty and later as a sergeant in the 40th Engineers in France. During the war he documented in drawing what he saw and experienced and on his return to New York City, he translated his studies into prints. Drawings of his World War I experiences launched his career. He spent most of WWI on the front line camouflaging the big guns. During his spare time, he would sketch everything from the big guns to the dead soldiers in the field. He sent these drawings home each week. Upon his return from the war, these drawings became his inspiration for his first successful group of etchings. He continued creating a seroes of war-related prints throughout the 1920's and 30's. Many galleries exhibited his work, but Frederick Keppel, the great print dealer and a relative of Eby, was the exclusive gallery for many of his new prints.

With another conflict beginning in the mid-1930's Eby wanted to show the world what war was really like In 1935, he published a book of this prints, called "War These works are powerful, reflecting his horror and disillusionment he felt. It was a subject that never left him" His depictions of combat realities of war are some of the angriest visual arguments against war ever expressed in this country.

When the United States declared war in 1941, Eby tried to enlist, but was turned down because of his age. He instead received his opportunity to participate when Abbott Laboratories developed its combat artist program. Between October 1943 and January 1944, he traveled with Marines in the South Pacific and witnessed some of the fiercest fighting of the war, landing with the invasion force at Tarawa and living three weeks in a foxhole on Bougainville. While on Bougainville he became ill with a tropical disease, one which weakened his health. He returned to the United States unable to regain his full strength. He completed his final drawings for Abbott and two unrelated etchings, but could not complete the etchings that he intended to make from his war pictures. He died in Norwalk, Connecticut in 1946.

Eby was an Associate of the National Academy NA (1930); National Academy of Design (1934); Society of American Etchers; Chicago Society of Etchers; Philadelphia Society of Etchers; National Institute of Arts and Letters. Kerr Eby's work can be found in these collections of the Library of Congress, The Fine Arts Museums of San Francisco, Harvard Art Museums, New York Public Library, Navy Art Collection.

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