Signed lower left
Size O: 14 x 17 S: 5 x 9.5
From the portfolio Princeton University - Etchings by Louis Orr 1920
Master etcher and artist Louis Orr was born May 19, 1876 in Hartford, Connecticut and returned there after a brief residency in New Jersey when his father died suddenly in 1892. Orr aspired to secure training and used a $350 scholarship to fund nearly two years of study in Paris. Upon his return, he worked for The Hartford Times and studied at the Art Students League. In 1911, Orr returned to Paris and studied at the Académie Julian under Jean Paul Laurens. During the First World War, he joined the French Army as an official artist and it was in this capacity that he produced "“ at much risk to life and limb "“ the etchings of Reims Cathedral that launched his career and brought him widespread international recognition. In 1919, Orr was made a Chevalier (knight) of the French Legion of Honor, and in 1930 became an Officier.

While Orr would live in France until 1940, he returned to the United States periodically and on these visits published a number of portfolios depicting the notable buildings of various American colleges and universities . In 1928, he published a portfolio of fourteen etchings depicting American ports. In Paris, he made the acquaintence of Robert Humber, a prominent North Carolinian who was instrumental in persuading him to temporarily settle there in 1940, when Orr began a twelve year project that produced fifty highly prized etchings celebrating the cultural history of the state and its institutions. Orr remained active to the end of his life, dividing his time between his Paris apartment and a small apartment and studio in Hartford.