Portage
1930
Image not available — this artwork is under copyright
View on museum website →Medium
etching and sandpaper ground
Classification
Department
CG-W
Museum
National Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C.
Credit
Gift of Addie Burr Clark
Accession Number
1946.9.49
Art Historical Context
Kerr Eby's *Portage* (1930) is a striking etching that exemplifies the artist's mastery of printmaking during the interwar period. Eby, an American etcher and illustrator (1889–1946), was celebrated for his atmospheric landscapes and intimate scenes of rural America, often evoking a sense of quiet drama and nostalgia. Created amid the early years of the Great Depression, work reflects Eby's skill in capturing the rugged beauty of the wilderness, with the title suggesting a moment of human endurance—likely voyageurs or explorers carrying a canoe over land in a northern landscape. The medium of...
About the Artist
Kerr Eby
Kerr Eby (1889–1946) was a Canadian-born American printmaker and painter who became one of the most accomplished etchers of his generation and a powerful chronicler of the experience of war. Born in Tokyo to Canadian parents, he grew up in New York and studied at the Pratt Institute and the Art Students League under George Bridgman. Eby volunteered for service in World War I and saw action in Fra...