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Mortimer Borne drypoints

Call Number

PR 228

Date

1927–1949, inclusive

Creator

Borne, Mortimer

Extent

82 item(s) in 1 box.

Language of Materials

The language used in the collection is English.

Abstract

Drypoints by Polish-born artist Mortimer Borne (1902–1987) depicting Manhattan streets, skylines, harbors, churches, parks (especially Central Park), and elevated trains. Includes views of Brooklyn, Sheepshead Bay, Coney Island, Spuyten Duyvil, and the 1939–1940 World's Fair Grounds at night.

Biographical note

Printmaker, painter, sculptor, and educator Mortimer Borne was born in Rypin, Poland, on December 21, 1902. In 1916 he immigrated to the United States with his parents. He studied at the National Academy of Design, the Art Students League, the Beaux-Art Institute of Design, and with Charles Webster Hawthorne, founder of the Cape Cod School of Art. He taught at the New School for Social Research in New York City from 1945 to 1967.

As a teenager in Poland, Mortimer Borne won a national school competition with a sculptured head of Peter the Great. His printmaking career started in the mid-1920s with a group of drypoint etchings of New York City, and in 1930 his work was recognized by Frederick Keppel & Co., who began representing him. Mortimer Borne's work is in the permanent collections of many museums, but his largest holding is at the Metropolitan Museum of Art.

[Adapted from information formerly posted on the Old Print Shop website: https://web.archive.org/web/20030415162849/http://www.oldprintshop.com/artists/borne.html]

Arrangement

Prints are organized alphabetically by titles supplied by the artist. Titles have been transcribed from each print.

Scope and Contents

The 82 drypoints by Mortimer Borne in this collection were created between 1927 and 1949. The images, many of them colored, primarily depict Manhattan streets, skylines, harbors, churches, parks (especially Central Park), and elevated trains; several of these are night scenes. There are also views of Brooklyn, Sheepshead Bay, Coney Island, Spuyten Duyvil, and Manhattan as seen from Weehawken, New Jersey, and from the George Washington Bridge. A 1940 etching depicts the World's Fair Grounds at night.

Access Restrictions

Open to qualified researchers by appointment only. To schedule an appointment, contact the Print Room Librarian at printroom@nyhistory.org.

Use Restrictions

Photocopying undertaken by staff only. Limited to 20 exposures of stable, unbound material per day. Application to use images from this collection for publication should be made in writing to: Department of Rights and Reproductions, The New-York Historical Society, 170 Central Park West, New York, NY 10024-5194, rightsandrepro@nyhistory.org. Phone: (212) 873-3400 ext. 282.

Copyrights and other proprietary rights may subsist in individuals and entities other than the New-York Historical Society, in which case the patron is responsible for securing permission from those parties. For fuller information about rights and reproductions from N-YHS visit: https://www.nyhistory.org/about/rights-reproductions

Preferred Citation

The collection should be cited as: Mortimer Borne Drypoints, PR-228, Department of Prints, Photographs, and Architectural Collections, New-York Historical Society.

Immediate Source of Acquisition

Gift of Noel J. Blackman in 1979.

Related Materials

Other works by Mortimer Borne are found in the James Boyd Collection of New York City Etchings, PR-7.

Collection processed by

Valerie S. Komor and Bobby Lee (2003); migrated to ArchivesSpace by Joseph Ditta (2020).

About this Guide

This finding aid was produced using ArchivesSpace on 2023-08-21 15:46:32 -0400.
Using Describing Archives: A Content Standard
Language: Finding aid written in English

Processing Information

On accession in 1979, the Mortimer Borne drypoints donated by Noel J. Blackman were added to the James Boyd Collection of New York City Etchings, PR-7, which includes some works by Borne. Valerie S. Komor and Bobby Lee removed the Blackman donation from the Boyd Collection in April 2003 and processed it under the separate call phrase PR-228. Joseph Ditta migrated their WORD-document finding aid to ArchivesSpace in June 2020.

Repository

New-York Historical Society
New-York Historical Society
170 Central Park West
New York, NY 10024