Joseph Kerby was born in Sheffield, England in 1857. He was a pioneer painter of landscapes, still life, and stage scenery.  He died in Provo, Utah in 1911.

In addition to being a self-taught primitivist painter, Kerby was farmer, poet, and house and sign painter.  Although his painting style was rather archaic in the beginning, it developed, with the help of John Hafen and Willis Adams, into a more painterly style.  Kerby’s favorite painting subjects were Mount Timpanogas and Provo Canyon.

Design for Drop-Curtain, Park City Opera House (1890) and Straw Hat with Apples (1902) are featured in the Springville Museum of Art permanent collection. Northeast Face of Timpanogas (1905) is an example of his landscape work.

Biographical information on this page was adapted from the Springville Museum of Art.