Brunk Auctions
Live Auction

Emporium & Humber Family Collection Auction

Fri, Feb 4, 2022 09:00AM EST
Lot 251

Louis Orr

Estimate: $2,000 - $4,000

Bid Increments

Price Bid Increment
$0 $25
$100 $50
$1,000 $100
$2,000 $200
$3,000 $250
$5,000 $500
$10,000 $1,000
$20,000 $2,000
$50,000 $5,000
$100,000 $10,000

(American, 1879-1961)

North Carolina Landmarks Series, fifty original copper plated engraving plates, 8-1/4 x 10-1/4 in.

Provenance: Humber Family, North Carolina

Note: During a trip to Paris, Louis Orr met Robert Humber who would eventually commission him to create a series of 50 etchings of North Carolina landmarks. Humber would go on to be a cultural leader in North Carolina and was part of a group of art enthusiasts and philanthropists who established the North Carolina Museum of Art in 1947.

In 1939, Orr and Humber toured around North Carolina to formulate a list of possibilities for subjects. The original list of 100 sites was narrowed down to 50. It took Louis Orr nearly 12 years to complete the project, depicting historical places, landscapes, houses, and plantations from around the state.

Orr preferred to work from his drawings of these sites, so although he took many trips to NC during this period, he remained primarily Connecticut based. These are the original plates that he created in that Connecticut studio.

Condition

plates in good condition, some with wear and/or areas of rust / corrosion