Birds and Beyond: The Prints of Maurice R. Bebb

This fall approximately 80 works from our collection will be on loan to the Birger Sandzén Memorial Gallery in Lindsborg, Kansas for a retrospective exhibition of Oklahoma artist Maurice R. Bebb (1891-1986). The exhibition will run from August 6 - October 23, 2016.

Known primarily for his color prints of the birds he found in Oklahoma and Minnesota, his works also included landscapes, flowers and architectural subjects. His extended trips to Europe in 1956 and 1958 led to the creation of some of his finest works.

Blackburnian Warbler, 1954

4 plate color aquatint and softground etching

His background is rather unique. He graduated from the University of Illinois in 1913 with a BS in Floriculture. After graduation, he moved back to Muskogee, OK to work in his father's flower shop. While he experimented with printmaking in the 1930's and 1940's, he didn't become a full time printmaker until he retired in 1951. He created more than 220 prints in his career and created gift prints for The Chicago Society of Etchers, The Print Makers Society of California and The Prairie Print Makers.

Village Street, Carennac, 1963

2 plate color aqautint and softground etching

In conjunction with the exhibition, I co-authored a catalog raissoné of Maurice Bebb's works. This book is currently available for pre-sale on Amazon.

The Birger Sandzén Memorial Gallery is located at 401 North First Street, in Lindsborg, KS on the campus of Bethany College. For additional information you can contact the gallery at (785)227-2220 or fineart@sandzen.org.

  White-throated Sparrow, 1957

4 plate color aquatint and softground etching