John taylor arms biography

John taylor arms etching

Artist Spotlight: John Taylor Arms.

John Taylor Arms

American etcher

John Taylor Arms

Born(1887-04-19)April 19, 1887

Washington, D.C.

DiedOctober 15, 1953(1953-10-15) (aged 66)

Fairfield, Connecticut

Known forprintmaker, etcher

John Taylor Arms (April 19, 1887 – October 13, 1953) was an American etcher.

Life

Arms was born in Washington, DC in 1887. He studied law at Princeton University, transferring to the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Boston, to study architecture, graduating in 1912. After serving as an officer in the United States Navy during World War I, he devoted himself full-time to etching.

John taylor arms prints

He published his first original etchings in 1919.

His initial subject was the Brooklyn Bridge in New York City near which he worked. Arms developed a successful career as a graphic artist in the 1920s and 1930s, specializing in series of etchings of Gothic churches and cathedrals in France and Italy. In addition to medieval subjects, Arms made a series