46 Etchings, Framed
Location: 2nd Floor of Library spanning the walls
Louis Orr was born in Hartford, Connecticut in 1879. In 1906 he went to France to study at l’Ecole de Beaux Arts. During his fifteen year stay in France, Orr created such masterful etchings that the French government commissioned him to do some studies of the Rheims Cathedral so that they may have a permanent record of. Ensconced in a bomb shelter, bombs falling about him, Orr created two superior etchings were in the exterior wholeness of the cathedral is juxtaposed with glimpses of the ruins nearby. For those Works executed under enemy fire the French government awarded Orr the French Legion of Honor soon after the Cathedral etchings were completed, the French government under or once again by commissioning him to do an etching of the peace conference in Strasbourg.
It was in Paris that Robert Lee Humber persuaded or to do etchings of noteworthy sites in North Carolina. The 46 prints of the famous North Carolina etchings shown here in DeTamble Library represent 12 years of intensive study and work. During this period, Louis Orr examined over 5,000 photographs, logged over 6,000 miles visiting North Carolina sites, and met with various N.C. historians and archivists so that he could choose the most interesting and representative subjects for his NC etchings. The result is a work that “embraces the architectural splendor of North Carolina in all its phases…It is a landmark of artistic genius reflecting the disciplined excellence of our taste in architecture, the refinement of our social life and cultural heritage for our people.” (Robert Lee Humber - N.C. State Senator 1959-1964)
Louis Orr was in his 80s when he died in Paris in 1966 Eleven of Orr’s etchings are in the permanent collection at the Louvre in Paris.
Rheims Cathedral (Interior) 1917 exhibiting war damage
