Born in Pittsfield, Illinois in 1886, Byxbe would move further West throughout the first half of his life. While he received no formal art training, he still harbored an eye and passion for the arts and developed his printmaking skillset in Omaha from Mark Levings, a local architect. In addition to creating commercial commissions to earn a living, Byxbe began producing a variety of etchings that reflected the time and place in which he found himself. For Nebraska, that included threshing scenes in the countryside during the fall, local homes blanketed in snow during the winter, and beehives resting beneath leafy trees in the summer.

In addition to capturing his Nebraska home in his artwork, Byxbe began to document the beauty and majesty of the Rocky Mountains, beginning in the 1920s. After years of spending summers enchanted by the mountains, Byxbe made the move from Omaha to Estes Park in the late 1930s. For the next 50 years, Byxbe would document the untouched vistas of his new home through a variety of etching techniques, creating a stunning body of work within American printmaking.

As the interstate system developed in Colorado throughout the 20th century, tourism increased. Byxbe’s print gallery offered visitors the ability to take home a small piece of fine art that effortlessly captured what they saw in the Rockies, and allowed them to look back every time they saw it on their wall.

Because his works were often created on a smaller scale, we encourage you to get “up close” and see the intricacies in each piece that Byxbe has left behind for us to explore. It is our hope that through Byxbe’s work, each viewer can look back in time and connect with the landscape around them.

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Plowing

$850.00

Aquatint on Paper

1935

Plate Size: 9 x 7 1/8 inches

Sheet Size: 12 5/8 inches

Signed in Pencil Lower Right

With endless sky, the wide flat land below it, and a vignette of struggle between man and nature, “Plowing” is a typical prairie scene Byxbe so often liked to depict; when keeping in mind Byxbe’s own midwestern upbringing, the piece takes on a special personal resonance. The solitary farmer—tiny in comparison to the vast, stormy sky—manages to evoke a curious mix of loneliness and nostalgia, tranquility and motion.

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