Description
Mortimer Borne was an etcher, painter and sculptor, as well as an educator, writer and lecturer. Born in Rypin, Poland, he emigrated to New York City in 1916 and studied at the National Academy of Design, Art Students League and Beaux-Art Institute of Design. Borne became best known as a printmaker, and was the originator of the “color drypoint” technique printed with three plates. From the 1920s through the 40s he was a prolific producer of New York City cityscapes and genre scenes. In later decades, he adopted a more modernist style apparently influenced by Picasso, producing color drypoints of abstracted figures. His works were widely exhibited in museums in the U.S. and abroad from 1931 and later, including the Art Institute of Chicago, the American Institute of Graphic Arts, Museum of Modern Art, Metropolitan Museum of Art, Corcoran Gallery of Art, New York Public Library, Carnegie Institute, and Royal Society of Painters, Etchers and Engravers in London. He taught at The New School for Social Research in New York City from 1945-1967, and at the Tappan Zee Art Center, which he established in Nyack, New York after moving there. Borne was a member of the Society of American Graphic Artists. His prints are the subject of the book Borne: Drypoints, Etchings, Color Drypoints by R.S. Biran (New York: Abaris Books, 1980). Today his works are in numerous museums around the U.S., including a large collection at the Metropolitan Museum of Art.
Reference:
Gilbert, Dorothy B., ed. Who’s Who in American Art. New York: American Federation of Arts and R.R. Bowker, 1959. p. 62.
“Mortimer Borne.” AskArt.com. 2002-2005. http://www.askart.com/askart/artist.aspx?artist=64903 (22 November 2005).
