Steps and Doorways (St. of the Red Sea)

Art Historical Context

Kerr Eby's 1924 print "Steps and Doorways (St. of the Red Sea)" offers an intimate view of a street lined with domestic architecture. The composition draws attention to the interplay of stairs doorways, and shadowed thresholds, evoking the rhythms of daily life in a coastal setting. As a graphic arts print, the work demonstrates how this medium excels at capturing fine details of texture, light, and form through precise line work, allowing such scenes to reach wide audiences. Created during a period of growing American interest in travel and international subjects, the print reflects broader artistic trends of the 1920s that celebrated vernacular streetscapes. Eby's focus on ordinary elements like worn steps and closed doors transforms a simple urban vista into a quiet meditation on place and human presence. Now part of the Smithsonian American Art Museum's collection through the generosity of Mr. and Mrs. Harry Katz, the piece continues to invite viewers to explore the cultural textures of distant locales through the enduring power of printmaking.

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...