Misty Moonlight, Estes Park, Colorado
Year c. 1920
Artist George Elbert Burr (1859–1939, American)
Media etching with aquatint
Dimensions 10 x 7 inches
George Elbert Burr, one of the greatest etchers to work in Colorado, was born in 1859 in Monroe Falls, Ohio and then moved to Cameron, Missouri with his family at age 10. Burr studied for a few months in the late 1870s at the Art Institute of Chicago (then the Chicago Academy of Design)—the only formal training he ever received. He began his professional career illustrating for magazines such as Harper’s, Scribner’s and the Cosmopolitan. In 1892, The Metropolitan Museum of Art commissioned him to make around 1,000 etchings for a catalog of their Heber R. Bishop jade collection, a project which lasted four years. This lengthy job provided Burr the means to travel and produce work abroad for several years. Burr moved to Denver in 1906 after a bad flu led him to seek a drier climate. In 1909, Burr designed his own home and studio at 1325 Logan Street, still in operation as the Denver Woman’s Press Club. Burr moved again for health reasons in 1924, this time to Phoenix, and lived the rest of his days there while continuing to exhibit his work nationally. Burr was a member of the Society of Etchers in Brooklyn, New York; Chicago, Illinois and in California, among other arts organizations. By the end of his career, Burr had created an estimated 25,000 etchings in addition to 2,000 pen and ink drawings, 1,000 watercolors and 50 oil paintings.
Not currently on view
Signature Signed "George Elbert Burr", titled and numbered "47/75" at bottom
Credit Line Collection Kirkland Museum of Fine & Decorative Art
Accession Number 2007.0720
