Kerr Eby

They Hunt No More

Kerr Eby(19 October 1889 – 18 November 1946) was a Canadianillustratorbest known for his renderings of soldiers in combat in theFirstandSecond World Wars.He is held in a similar regard toHarvey Dunnand the other famous illustrators dispatched by the government to cover the First World War.

Early life and education

Born inTokyo, Japanto CanadianMethodistmissionary parents in 1889,Eby received formal art training atPratt Instituteand theArt Students League of New York.

Career

Enlisting in the Army in 1917, Eby served in an ambulance crew and later as acamoufleur.Although unable to acquire an artist's commission to cover the war, he created many memorable and haunting images of soldiers both in combat and living their daily lives on the front.

In the 1920s and 1930s, Eby continued to occasionally generate pieces related to his experience, and worked many of his early sketches into completedlithographs.These images were eventually collected and distributed in the bookWAR,which remains in the collection of many libraries today. Notable images in this collection include a haunting drawing of marines retreating across the countryside beneath a menacing black cloud. In 1930, he was elected into theNational Academy of Designas an Associate member, and became a full Academician in 1934. He was also a member of theSociety of American Graphic Artists.His work was part of thepainting eventin theart competitionat the1932 Summer Olympics.

As the United States returned to war in 1941, Eby attempted to reenlist but was denied because of his age. He found service instead in the combat artists program created byAbbott Laboratoriesto cover the war. He operated primarily in thePacific during World War II,where he landed with the Marines onTarawaandGuadalcanal.He created many of his strongest works, and put his life on the line to capture the experiences he shared with those soldiers.

Eby contracted a tropical disease while covering the war inBougainville,and would die at his home inWestport, Connecticutin 1946.He left behind a great body of completed work and much that was still in progress. These drawings, prints, and paintings serve as both historical record and primary documentation of the American experience of war in the 20th century.

Collections

Eby's work is held in the permanent collections of many museums throughout the United States, including theSmithsonian American Art Museum,theDetroit Institute of Arts,theWhitney Museum of American Art,theSmart Museum of Art,theCrystal Bridges Museum of American Art,theWorcester Art Museum,theFarnsworth Art Museum,theNelson-Atkins Museum of Art,theUniversity of Michigan Museum of Art,theHood Museum of Art,thePhiladelphia Museum of Art,theDelaware Art Museum,and theWilliams College Museum of Art.

Sample works

• 
  Open Etching(1928)
• 
  Lodging for the Night(1921–22)
• 
  Untitled (1915), fromScribner's Magazine

External links

• Naval History article on Kerr Eby