Cloudburst. from the Desert Set

George Elbert Burr

George Elbert Burr moved to Denver, Colorado in 1906 for health reasons. He spent the next 18 years there creating a body of intaglio prints that focused on the desert and mountain landscapes of the southwest. His distinctive dramatic desert landscapes and nightscapes that often feature dark, atmospheric skies created by crisp drypoint lines and dense aquatinted backgrounds.

In his intaglio "Cloudburst" he moves his skills to a softer medium, softground etching, using a greenish gray ink to create a misty, ethereal composition. The southwestern desert offers many splendid bluffs, canyons, and meadows, not to mention cloudscapes. Its monsoon season lasts from June through September and Burr captures a veil of dark rain as it passes, or walks, across the landscape.

This image is number 26 of 35 prints Burr did that he called the "Desert Set", put together in 1921 and the first 30 of which were sold as a set for $750.00. The final 5 impressions from the edition of 40 were sold as individual prints. The edition of 40 is the highest edition Burr did and identifies the images from the "Desert Set."