Kerr Eby

American (1889-1946)

Kerr Eby was born in Tokyo, Japan, in 1889, the son of American missionaries and first came to the United States in 1905. Eby received his artistic training at the Pratt Institute and at the Art Students League in New York City. Eby was a master etcher who captured stunning scenes of New England. He was a consummate technician, assisting others, including Childe Hassam, in the medium. Eby’s studio is the subject of one Hassam etching. During World War I, Eby served in the Ambulance Corps, capturing in etching many of the scenes he witnessed. The opus magnus of this series is “The Great Black Cloud” which Eby completed in 1918. After the war, Eby returned to the United States and displayed his artwork at several prestigious venues during the 1930s, including the Brooklyn Society of Etchers and the Society of American Etchers, winning multiple prizes. During this time, Eby also earned membership to many prominent art groups such as the National Academy of Design, the Society of American Etchers, the Chicago Society of Etchers, the Philadelphia Society of Etchers, and the National Institute of Arts and Letters. Later during World War II, Eby served as an artist-correspondent with the Marines in the South Pacific. A retrospective of Eby’­s work was held in 1979 at the Harbor Gallery in New York City, and a complete collection of EbyÃ’s prints prior to 1932 are housed in the New York Public Library.