In the Open 1927

This is Kerr Eby’s “In the Open”, an etching capturing a scene from World War I. Eby, who served in the American Expeditionary Forces, offers a glimpse into the war's machinery. Here, horses and men struggle to move artillery across a barren, grassy field. What is the emotional tenor of this piece? There is an undeniable sense of both weariness and determination etched into the scene. The soldiers, hunched and obscured, become almost indistinguishable from the equipment and animals they handle. What does it mean to be blended into a landscape of war? Eby's work invites us to consider the experiences of those who fought, and their relationship to the machinery of warfare. Instead of glorifying combat, he portrays the gritty reality of war, one where identity is subsumed by duty and the human spirit is tested by the landscape of conflict.