Untitled (transfer drawing for Evening, Paradise Valley, Arizona)
after 1920
Medium
Drawing
Classification
Drawing
Department
Smithsonian Collection
Museum
Smithsonian American Art Museum
Credit
Smithsonian American Art Museum, Bequest of Carolann Smurthwaite in memory of her mother, Caroline Atherton Connell Smurthwaite
Accession Number
1983.83.75
Tags
Art Historical Context
George Elbert Burr's *Untitled (transfer drawing for Evening, Valley, Arizona)*, after 1920, the serene beauty of the American Southwest. As a master etcher and draftsman associated with the Etching Revival movement, Burr in luminous landscapes that celebrated the dramatic light and vastness of Western scenery. This drawing served as a preparatory "transfer" work—likely used to imprint the design onto an etching plate—highlighting his meticulous technique for translating pencil strokes into intricate prints. Set in Arizona's Paradise Valley, the piece evokes an evening glow amid mountains, ca...
About the Artist
George Elbert Burr
George Elbert Burr was an American printmaker and watercolorist whose career spanned the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, earning him a reputation as one of the foremost etchers of the American West. Born in 1859 in Monroe Falls, Ohio, Burr trained as a commercial illustrator before turning his full attention to fine art. He honed his craft through diligent self-study and close obser...