top of page
_img src=_George Elbert Burr.jpg_ alt=_Burr original painting _

GEORGE ELBERT BURR

About this artist
George Elbert Burr (1859- 1939) 

Born in Monroe Falls, Ohio, George Elbert Burr studied in Europe and at the Art Institute of Chicago. As a traveling artist , he made etchings for magazine illustrations. He captured the grandeur of the American West in his etchings, pastel drawings, and watercolors.

He enjoyed success early, providing illustrations for Harper's, Scribner's Magazine, Frank Leslie's Weekly, and The Cosmopolitan. In 1892, he began a four-year project illustrating a catalog of Heber R. Bishop's collection of jade antiquities for the Metropolitan Museum of Art. This project, producing etchings of over a thousand artifacts, paid well enough for Burr with his wife to embark on an extended tour of Europe upon its completion. Over the next five years, they spent time in Italy, Germany, England, and Wales. Burr amassed sketches and watercolors that would provide the source material for his copper plate etchings of European scenes.

 

Burr's works are in the collections of the Library of Congress, Metropolitan Museum of Art,  Detroit Institute of Arts, and Brooklyn Museum of Art.

The work presented here is an original from a limited number of Burr's highly acclaimed oeuvre of European scenes executed during his extented tour to Europe in1890s. It offers a vibrant picture of Burr's artistic legacy—layered, complex, and nuanced, it's Imbued with his precise delicacy and elegance—hallmarks of Burr's mature art. Everything about this work exudes a magical quality and represents a peak in the artist's career. 

Today, we recognize him as a distinctive artist of his generation.

George Elbert Burr (1859-1939)_Flower Ma

George Elbert Burr (1859-1939)

First offering of a rare

artwork by George Elbert Burr,

from his highly acclaimed oeuvre

of European scenes.

A compelling narrative Imbued with

precise delicacy and

elegance—hallmarks of Burr’s

mature art—brought to life

the timeless charm of Italy,

of a way of life lived

in continuity for centuries

unaffected by time.

Layered, complex, and nuanced,

Burr rendered

such compelling narrative

through harmonization

of precise details

and compositional elements

such as the flower stalls

and their canopies,

with atmospheric setting

bathed in a soft light, an observation

he brilliantly captured.

His adeptness at combining

architectural observation

and atmospheric perspective

with a variety of timeless qualities

like color and textures

is demonstrated in this depiction.

Burr’s unique style infused the scene

with vitality and timeless charm,

which indeed is reminiscent

of a way of life

lived in continuity for centuries.

 

 

bottom of page