In the Street of Life and Death, Segovia

Charles B. Keeler

An impression of "In the Street of Life and Death, Segovia" was illustrated in 1928 in Fine Prints of the Year, which commented "'In the Street of Life and Death, Segovia,' bv Mr. Charles B. Keeler, partakes of the slightly theatrical quality of its title. Though the luridly lighted houses may be fronts onlv, there is a pleasantlv shivery mystery lurking in the gloom under the arches. Apprehensive anticipation is undoubtedly evoked. It was also exhibited in 'An Exhibition of Etchings' with the Chicago Society of Etchers, and the annual exhibition of the California Society of Printmakers in Los Angeles."

Charles Keeler had studied printmaking with Chicago printmaker Bertha Jaques. He worked in almost pure aquatint, with just a few etched lines, just using the tones that the aquatint process creates.

In 1980 an impression of this image was included in "Los Angeles Prints, 1883-1980", mounted at the Los Angeles County Museum of Art. The catalog for the exhibition illustrates this image on page 42 (number 22). "Calle de la Vida y la Muerte"<, also called "The Street of Life and Death", is off the Plaza de Somorrostro where the Academia de Artilleria (the Artillery Academy) is located in Segovia, Spain.

Charles Butler Keeler, Jr. was born to Charles Butler and Ellen Rock Keeler in Cedar Rapids, Iowa on April 2, 1882. He received his Bachelor of Arts at Harvard University in 1905 and continued his studies at the Art Institute of Chicago. While in Chicago he studied printmaking with Bertha Jacques and B.].O. Nordfeldt and also studied with John Christen Johansen.

In 1909, Butler traveled throughout England, France, and Germany. In 1912, he was in Spain and it is recorded that “he purchased a donkey and roamed about sketching the Sierra.” He spent time in the Spanish province of Málaga, recording the mountains and the mountaintop city of Ronda.

In 1918, Keeler enlisted in the military at Camp Dodge, Iowa. He was assigned to the 339th Field Artillery and was made the company’s translator as he was fluent in French and later was a delegate to the army camouflage school.

Keeler was a member of and exhibited with the Chicago Society of Etchers and the Print Makers Society of California. He was involved with the Torch Press, based in Cedar Rapids. He designed, etched, and printed the frontispiece and the title page for the Torch Press’ 1915 and 1916 popular Christmas series releases. He won an honorable mention for his aquatints at the 1915 Panama Pacific International Exposition in San Francisco. His prints were selected for Fifty Prints of the Year 1927 and Fine Prints of the Year 1929. Charles Butler Keeler’s work is represented in the Los Angeles County Museum of Art, California; the Library of Congress and the Smithsonian American Art Museum, Washington, D.C.