William Bliss Baker

William Bliss Baker (November 27, 1859 – November 20, 1886) was an American artist who began painting just as the Hudson River School was winding down. Baker began his studies in 1876 at the National Academy of Design, where he studied with Bierstadt and de Haas. He later maintained studios in Clifton Park, New York and New York City, where he painted in oils and watercolors. He completed more than 130 paintings, including several in black and white.

William Bliss Baker
Baker, ca.1880-1886
BornNovember 27, 1859
New York City, US
DiedNovember 20, 1886(1886-11-20) (aged 26)
Hoosick Falls, New York, US
EducationM.F.H. de Haas
Albert Bierstadt[1]
Known forPainting
Notable workFallen Monarchs
Morning After the Snow
Movement
AwardsElliott Prize for Drawing (1879)
Third Hallgarten Prize (1884)[1][3]

At age 26, Baker was just beginning to hit his stride as a landscape painter when he died at his father's house at Hoosick Falls, New York. The New York Times said that his death "deprived America of one of its most promising artists."

Biography

Early life and family

Baker was born November 27, 1859,[n 1] in New York City, the son of Yale alumnus Benjamin Franklin Baker (b. 1834) and Harriette Luisa Bayeux (married 1857). Harriette was descended from well-to-do Huguenots who moved from France to New York before the American Revolutionary War. Benjamin's father was Ellis Baker (1793–1873), director of the Albany City Bank, Albany Mutual Insurance Company, and People's Line Steamboats, as well as founder of Albany Rural Cemetery and Albany Hospital. He also operated stagecoach lines from Albany to Boston as well as north and west of Albany.[4][5]

Benjamin served during the American Civil War as a colonel in the 43rd Regiment of the New York State Volunteers. Later, he commanded the Light Division of Sixth Corps (part of the Army of the Potomac) as a Brevet Brigadier General. He was noted for his bravery during the charge at Marye's Heights during the Battle of Fredericksburg. After the war, he joined the Loyal Legion, then served as a member of the New York State Assembly from 1880 to 1882.[4]

William's best-known brother was Captain Guy Ellis Baker (b. 1858), who married Louisa Irene Palma Di Cesnola,[5] daughter of Civil War Medal of Honor recipient General Louis Palma di Cesnola. His other brothers included Benjamin Henry (b. 1869), George Clinton (b. 1872), and Ashley Bayeux (b. 1877).[4] Baker spent much of his boyhood in the town of Ballston Spa, and his family discovered and purchased the property where he would build his summer studio, "The Castle", on the shores Ballston Lake.[6]

Study and career

For four years beginning in 1876, Baker studied at the National Academy of Design, where he studied with Albert Bierstadt and Mauritz F. H. de Haas.[1][3][7] In 1879, he won the Elliott prize during his first exhibit.[3] In 1885, Baker won the Hallgarten Prize for his Woodland Brook.[8]

By 1881, Baker had built a summer studio named "The Castle"[5][n 2] on the east side of Ballston Lake in the town of Clifton Park, north of Albany, New York. The studio was designed to have excellent views of the Catskill and Berkshire Mountains, and had excellent natural lighting.[5] The Clifton Park Historic Preservation Commission awarded "The Castle" its Historic Designation plaque,[9] and a "Clifton Park Register of Historic Places" sign also marks the studio property. The home is now a private residence, and it is not open to the public. Baker also had a studio in the Knickerbocker Building in New York City.[10]

Death
Baker's headstone in Albany Rural Cemetery in Menands, New York

Baker was just beginning to hit his stride as a landscape painter in the Realism movement[11] when he died on November 20, 1886[4] at the age of 26[n 3] of a cold[7] at his father's house at Hoosick Falls, New York, after sustaining injuries while ice skating.[1][5][12] His final completed work was Meadow Brook.[13] Baker completed over 130 paintings during his career.[11]

A contemporary art critic said that his death was "a distinct loss to American art".[14] The New York Times stated that his death "deprived America of one of its most promising artists."[11] Harper's Weekly stated that "[t]he tidings of this young artist's untimely death ... will be received with sincere regret by all those who take an intelligent interest in the growth of native American art."[15] The New York Post wrote that "[t]he young artist was animated by an intense love of nature, which he manifested from his earliest years, and this, aided by his great industry and energy, was among the chief elements of his success in the line of art he had chosen. His untimely death will be deeply regretted by all who take an intelligent interest in American artistic progress."[15]

He is buried in a family plot in Albany Rural Cemetery in Menands, New York (see image, right).[6]

Works
Fallen Monarchs (1886), considered Baker's masterpiece.

Baker was awarded the 1884 Third Hallgarten Prize by the National Academy of Design for A Woodland Brook.[n 4]

Fallen Monarchs, considered to be Baker's masterpiece,[1] was painted in 1886 in the Ballston Lake area. The original is owned by Brigham Young University in Provo, Utah, where it hangs in the BYU Museum of Art.[16] A small copy of this painting hangs in the public library in the town of Ballston. His 1883 painting, A Pleasant Day at Lake George hangs in the Adirondack Museum at Blue Mountain Lake, New York.[17]

Another of his paintings, Morning After the Snow, sold for $5,000 in 1887[11] (the equivalent of about $109,000 in 2006 dollars).[18] Morning and an additional 129 of his paintings sold at that auction for a combined total of nearly $15,000[11] (almost $360,000 in 2010 dollars).[18]

Black and white
Dark Forest, a black and white oil painting completed ca.1880.

Listed alphabetically by title.

  • The Brook (date unknown)[1][19]
  • Cattle Grazing Near a Stream Through the Pasture (date unknown)[20]
  • Dark Forest (ca.1880, 24" x 20", oil on canvas)[19][21]
  • Morning in the Meadows (ca. 1883)[19][22]
  • Snow Scene (date unknown, 12 x 9 inches)[23]
  • Wood Interior (date unknown, 8 x 11 inches)[24]
  • Wood Interior (date unknown, 17.5 x 21.5 inches)[25]

Color
Hiding in the Haycocks, 1881
Landscape: Grez, ca. 1882
Engraving of Silence, 1883 (from Art of the World, Volume 6 (1893))
Shadows in a Pool, date unknown
Woodland Scene, 1885
Date known
Listed alphabetically by year. Current location listed (if known).
Date unknown
Listed alphabetically by title.
  • Apple Blossoms (12 x 8 inches)[44]
  • Apple Blossoms (20 x 12 inches)[25]
  • Apple Trees (12 x 20 inches)[45]
  • April Day (23.5 x 14 inches)[11][23]
  • April Snow (36 x 20 inches)[11][40]
  • Autumn (11.5 x 9.5 inches)[46]
  • Autumn Forest Landscape[47]
  • Autumn in Woods[11]
  • Autumn Leaves (12 x 20 inches)[48]
  • Autumn Study (20 x 12 inches)[49]
  • Autumn Trees by Stream[50]
  • Autumn Woods (22 x 13 inches)[51]
  • Autumn Woods (20.5 x 12 inches)[48]
  • Autumn Woods (12.5 x 8.5 inches)[52]
  • Autumn Woods (22 x 30 inches)[11][53]
  • Banks of Schoharie (19.5 x 18.5 inches)[54]
  • Banks of the Schoharie (14 x 10 inches)[55]
  • Bed of a Brook (12 x 19 inches)[11][56]
  • Bed of Brook (12 x 19 inches)[57]
  • Bed of Brook Morse Mountain, Adirondacks (12 x 17.5 inches)[58]
  • Branches of Elm (21 x 29 inches)[11][59]
  • Brook and Pasture (20 x 12 inches)[49]
  • Brook and Woods (12 x 20 inches)[25]
  • Catskill Clove (12 x 10 inches)[52]
  • Church Beyond a Meadow[11]
  • Clump of Trees (11.5 x 19.5 inches)[60]
  • Clover Field (12.5 x 19 inches)[11][59]
  • A Cool Retreat (29 x 22 inches)[11][42]
  • Corn Fields and Pasture (12 x 9.5 inches)[11][46]
  • Corn Stalks (12 x 20 inches)[61]
  • Cows Watering in a Pond[62]
  • Daisies (12 x 20 inches)[60]
  • Dead Leaves (12.5 x 19.5 inches)[11][51]
  • Dried Up (12 x 9.5 inches)[11][23]
  • Early Autumn (20 x 28 inches)[11][24]
  • Edge of the Creek (19 x 11.5 inches)[23]
  • Edge of the Woods (17 x 12 inches)[11][59]
  • An Elm (12 x 20 inches)[45]
  • Fallen (A Study) (22.5 x 13.5 inches)[11][43]
  • A Forest Glade (12.5 x 10 inches)[11][42]
  • Forest Road (12 x 20 inches)[43]
  • Forest Sunshine (12.5 x 9 inches)[11][46]
  • Fort Lee, Hudson River (size unknown inches)[63]
  • Gathering Chestnuts (12 x 19.5 inches)[54]
  • Golden Rod (12 x 20 inches)[43]
  • Harvest Study (12 x 8.5 inches)[55]
  • Harvest Time (12.5 x 9.5 inches)[64]
  • Haycocks (11.5 x 9 inches)[55]
  • A Haze (11.5 x 8 inches)[11][56]
  • In the Hayfield (12 x 9 inches)[64]
  • In the Old Pasture[11]
  • June (28 x 14 inches)[45]
  • June Pastures (12 x 19.5 inches)[11][46]
  • June Sunshine (22.5 x 15.5 inches)[11][59]
  • Landscape (14 x 22 inches)[24]
  • Landscape (19.5 x 13.5 inches)[58]
  • Landscape (22.5 x 13 inches)[40]
  • Landscape with Cattle[11]
  • Lowlands (12 x 7 inches)[52]
  • Marine[65]
  • Meadow and Woodland (12 x 10 inches)[66]
  • Mossy Stumps (12 x 10 inches)[44]
  • Mountain Top (20 x 13 inches)[58]
  • New York Harbor, City Front (19 x 7 inches)[63]
  • Old Mill Pond (12 x 20 inches)[56]
  • Opening in Woods (16 x 10 inches)[61]
  • The Old Orchard (13.5 x 22.5 inches)[11][51]
  • Old Stump (12 x 9.5 inches)[67]
  • Orchard in June (12 x 16 inches)[11][23]
  • Outlet of a Lake (19 x 13 inches)[49]
  • Pasture (20 x 12 inches)[61]
  • Pasture (18 x 14 inches)[59]
  • Pasture (12 x 10 inches)[58]
  • Pasture (12.5 x 10 inches)[40]
  • Pool and Meadow (12 x 10 inches)[44]
  • Pool and Upland (12 x 20 inches)[63]
  • Quiet Pond[68]
  • A Quiet Pond, Connecticut[3]
  • Quiet Winter Afternoon[69]
  • The Roadside (20 x 12 inches)[48]
  • Rock Study, North Shore, Lake Ontario (18 x 12 inches)[44]
  • Rocky Pool (10 x 13 inches)[63]
  • Rough Pasture (12 x 9 inches)[57]
  • Schoharie Creek (19.75 x 14 inches)[11][46]
  • Second Growth Timber (12.5 x 9.5 inches)[11][53]
  • The Sentinel (12 x 20 inches)[25]
  • Shadows in a Pool[11]
  • Shadows in the Pool (12 x 10 inches)[42]
  • Shady Pool (12 x 19 inches)[11][40]
  • Sheep Pasture (13 x 10.5 inches)[55]
  • Snarled Roots (18 x 11 inches)[54]
  • Snow (6.5 x 10.5 inches)[67]
  • Snow Scene (42 x 30 inches)[11][48]
  • Solitude (50 x 38 inches)[11][24]
  • Spring Pasture (12.5 x 9.25 inches)[11][42]
  • Standing Grass (12 x 10 inches)[64]
  • Still Pool in the Woods (19.5 x 12 inches)[11][43]
  • Study of Autumn Leaves (12 x 10 inches)[66]
  • Study of Ferns (12 x 10 inches)[57]
  • Study of Ferns (#2, 12 x 10 inches)[64]
  • Study of Forest (12 x 20 inches)[45]
  • Study of Rocks and Fallen Timber (18 x 12 inches)[56]
  • Study of Snow (14 x 20 inches)[11][53]
  • Study of Tree (11.5 x 19.5 inches)[60]
  • Study of Trees (11.5 x 18 inches)[56]
  • Study of Trees (5.5 x 12.5 inches)[66]
  • Study of Woods (10.5 x 13 inches)[63]
  • Summer Afternoon[70]
  • Summer Pasture (13 x 6.5 inches)[66]
  • Summer Woodland (12 x 10 inches)[64]
  • Sunlight in the Woods (14 x 11.5 inches)[57]
  • Sunlit Brook (12 x 19 inches)[61]
  • Sunlit Pastures (15 x 11 inches)[51]
  • Sunny Brook (19.5 x 12 inches)[11][48]
  • Sunrise on New York Harbor[11]
  • Sunset (12.5 x 9 inches)[52]
  • Surf (22 x 15 inches)[49]
  • Surf (22.5 x 14 inches)[55]
  • Timber Belt (20 x 12 inches)[51]
  • Tree Top (12 x 20 inches)[54]
  • Tree Trunks (12 x 20 inches)[45]
  • Tree Trunks (14 x 12 inches)[52]
  • Trees and Meadow (12 x 10 inches)[57]
  • Under the Hill (12 x 9 inches)[44]
  • Valley of Hudson from Catskills (12 x 10 inches)[67]
  • Water Fall (12 x 20 inches)[63]
  • Winter Forest (20 x 12 inches)[54]
  • Winter Twilight (12 x 9 inches)[67]
  • Wood Interior (22 x 13.5 inches)[11][60]
  • Wood Interior (21 x 15.5 inches)[11][53]
  • Wood Interior (22 x 30 inches)[11][24]
  • Wood Interior (21 x 29 inches)[58]
  • Wood Opening (11 x 19.5 inches)[60]
  • Wooded Glade[71]
  • Woodland Shade (12.5 x 10 inches)[53]
  • Woodland Study (12.5 x 8.5 inches)[66]
  • Woods in June (12 x 10 inches)[67]
  • Young Cattle (15.5 x 12 inches)[61]
  • Young Timber (12 x 10 inches)[25]

Reception and legacy

While Baker is relatively unknown to the general public,[2] he was well known to art critics of the day[72] and was considered "one of the leading landscape painters of America".[4] He is considered to be part of the Hudson River School.[2]

Baker "rapidly ascended to the head of his profession"[7] by the age of 25.[n 1] His landscapes were variously described as "characteristic[ally] American"[n 4] and "true character studies in which varieties of vegetation and the varying influence of light and weather were identified with amazing skill."[7] One critic in 1883 described the black and white work Morning in the Meadows as "brilliant" though perhaps too detailed.[22]

Regarding his death, The New York Times said it "deprived America of one of its most promising artists."[11]

Notes
  1. Turnure. Paragraph 7. "William Bliss Baker.—One of the prize winners in the National Academy exhibition of 1884, Mr. Baker, has been selected as a worthy exponent of our best landscape art. Though a young man, not yet twenty-five years of age, he has already acquired an enviable reputation in the art world. Born November 27th, 1859, at New York he began his course of study in the National Academy Schools in 1876 and first exhibited at the Academy in 1879. Since then he has had work in the exhibitions of Boston, Philadelphia, Cincinnati, Louisville, the Society of American Artists, the Water Color Society and the Salmagundi Club. His principal pictures are Woodland Brook, In the old Pasture, Silence, Woodland Study, Green Pasture—July, April Sunshine, November Gray, April Snow, Brook in Spring."
  2. The home/studio built by Baker has had multiple names over the years, including "The Castle", "Smith's Castle", and "The Haunted Castle". See Ye Olde Days by Briaddy.
  3. Regarding his death, some sources state he was in his 27th year (which means he was 26), and others state he was 27 years old. The book Art Year Book 1884: American Art gives his actual birthdate, however, so we know he was 26 when he died just a week shy of his 27th birthday.
  4. Turnure, Arthur B (1884). "Notes: Descriptive and Biographic". Art Year Book 1884: American Art. Boston: New England Institute. End of paragraph 2. Retrieved November 29, 2011. The Hallgarten prizes of three hundred, two hundred and one hundred dollars annually for the best three pictures in oil colors shown in the exhibition were awarded respectively to Mr. C. Y. Turner for his large and important figure subject, The Courtship of Miles Standish, to Mr. Louis Moeller for his excellently painted single figure with accessories, entitled Puzzled, and to Mr. William Bliss Baker for his characteristic American landscape, A Woodland Brook.

References
  1. Bentley, Edward P. "BAKER, WILLIAM BLISS American 1859 - 1886". Archived from the original on May 29, 2013. Retrieved April 20, 2007.
  2. Jones, pp.1-9, 16-17, "Introduction—The Hudson River School"
  3. Godel, et al, pp.34-35.
  4. American Ancestry, pp.93-94.
  5. Briaddy, pp.89–92, "The Railroads".
  6. Reynolds, Rick (November 26, 2010). "History Lesson: The Baker Brothers made their home in Ballston". The Saratogian. Archived from the original on February 22, 2018. Retrieved February 21, 2018.
  7. Clarke (1891), p.8.
  8. "Monthly Record of American Art". The Magazine of Art: xxii. "He was a pupil of the New York National Academy of Design, where he took the Elliott prize in 1879, and in 1885 he won the Hallgarten prize with his landscape, 'The Woodland Brook.'"
  9. "Register of Historic Places (page 2)". Town of Clifton Park - Historic Preservation Commission. Archived from the original on September 28, 2011. Retrieved June 4, 2011. Note: Listed as #17.
  10. Flynn, Andy (July 4, 2008). "A Pleasant Day at Lake George" (PDF). Lake Placid News. p. 14. Archived from the original (PDF) on February 22, 2018. Retrieved February 21, 2018.
  11. "Selling works of art: Pictures of Baker, Sprague's collection, and the Baker Statues". The New York Times. March 18, 1887. p. 5. ...William Bliss Baker, the lately deceased landscape painter, whose death by accident at the early age of 27 deprived America of one of its most promising artists...
  12. "Died". The New York Times. November 22, 1886. p. 5. BAKER.—At Hoosic Falls, N.Y., Nov. 20, in the 27th year of his age, William Bliss Baker, artist, late of this city, son of Col. B.F. Baker. Funeral at St. Mark's Church, Hoosic Falls, Tuesday, 23rd inst., at 12:30.
  13. "Monthly Record of American Art". The Magazine of Art. London, Paris, New York, and Melbourne: Cassell and Company, Limited: xxiv. 1887. The William Bliss Baker collection was sold, March 17th. "Morning After the Snow" brought $5,000; "Snow Scene," $1,100; "Solitude," sold for $1,100; "Under the Appletree," $760; and the last work of the artist, "Meadow Brook," sold for $614.
  14. "Art Notes". The Art Review. 1 (2): 19. December 1886.
  15. "Works of Art: fallen monarchs". Brigham Young University Museum of Art. Archived from the original on August 25, 2013. Retrieved August 25, 2013.
  16. "A Pleasant Day At Lake George". Adirondack Museum. Archived from the original on August 25, 2013. Retrieved August 25, 2013.
  17. Friedman, S. Morgan. "The Inflation Calculator". Archived from the original on July 18, 2011. Retrieved April 20, 2007.
  18. Appleton's Annual, p.664.
  19. "Cattle Grazing Near a Stream Through the Pasture by William Bliss Baker". Blouin Art Sales Index. Archived from the original on February 22, 2018. Retrieved February 21, 2018.
  20. The Cooley Gallery. "William Bliss Baker (1859 - 1886) Dark Forest, circa 1880" (PDF). Archived (PDF) from the original on November 25, 2019. Retrieved November 25, 2019.
  21. E. R. (December 8, 1883). "Two Art Exhibitions in New York". The American: A National Weekly Journal of Politics, Literature, Science, Art and Finance. Philadelphia, Pennsylvania: The American Company, Limited. VII (174). p.9 third paragraph near the end. Mr. William Bliss Baker's "Morning in the Meadows" is a brilliant landscape, but with a little more elaboration of detail than is appropriate to black-and-white work.
  22. "River View by William Bliss Baker". Blouin Art Sales Index. Archived from the original on February 22, 2018. Retrieved February 21, 2018.
  23. "Deep in the Woods by William Bliss Baker". Blouin Art Sales Index. Archived from the original on February 22, 2018. Retrieved February 21, 2018.
  24. "Hiding in the Haycocks, 1881". Memphis Brooks Museum of Art. Archived from the original on February 20, 2018. Retrieved February 19, 2018.
  25. "Collections Search: Henry Art". University of Washington. Retrieved July 17, 2010.
  26. "New York Harbour by William Bliss Baker". Blouin Art Sales Index. Archived from the original on February 22, 2018. Retrieved February 21, 2018.
  27. ""A Pleasant Day at Lake George" By William Bliss Baker". Adirondack Experience. Archived from the original on February 22, 2018. Retrieved February 21, 2018.
  28. Kirby, Coffin, p. 18.
  29. "Silence by William Bliss Baker". Blouin Art Sales Index. Archived from the original on February 22, 2018. Retrieved February 21, 2018.
  30. "October Morning by William Bliss Baker". Blouin Art Sales Index. Archived from the original on February 22, 2018. Retrieved February 21, 2018.
  31. "First Fall of Snow by William Bliss Baker". Blouin Art Sales Index. Archived from the original on February 22, 2018. Retrieved February 21, 2018.
  32. Sweeney, p.100.
  33. "The R.B. Angus Art Collection: Paintings, Watercolours and Drawings". Archived from the original (PDF) on February 22, 2018. Retrieved February 21, 2018.
  34. "Woodland Brook by William Bliss Baker". Blouin Art Sales Index. Archived from the original on February 22, 2018. Retrieved February 21, 2018.
  35. "Quick Center for the Arts collection now available as reproductions" (PDF). Bonaventure: The Magazine of St. Bonaventure University. Vol. 1, no. 2. Office of Marketing and Communication, St. Bonaventure University. June 2009. p. 8. Archived from the original (PDF) on August 20, 2016. Retrieved February 21, 2018.
  36. "Up Close: Fallen Monarchs by William Bliss Baker". Museum of Art, Brigham Young University. Archived from the original on February 22, 2018. Retrieved February 21, 2018.
  37. "Autumn Forest Landscape by William Bliss Baker". Blouin Art Sales Index. Archived from the original on February 22, 2018. Retrieved February 21, 2018.
  38. "Autumn Trees by Stream by William Bliss Baker". Blouin Art Sales Index. Archived from the original on February 22, 2018. Retrieved February 21, 2018.
  39. "Cows Watering in a Pond by William Bliss Baker". Blouin Art Sales Index. Archived from the original on February 22, 2018. Retrieved February 21, 2018.
  40. "Marine by William Bliss Baker". Blouin Art Sales Index. Archived from the original on February 22, 2018. Retrieved February 21, 2018.
  41. "Quiet Pond by William Bliss Baker". Blouin Art Sales Index. Archived from the original on February 22, 2018. Retrieved February 21, 2018.
  42. "Quiet Winter Afternoon by William Bliss Baker". Blouin Art Sales Index. Archived from the original on February 22, 2018. Retrieved February 21, 2018.
  43. "Summer Afternoon by William Bliss Baker". Blouin Art Sales Index. Archived from the original on February 22, 2018. Retrieved February 21, 2018.
  44. "Wooded Glade by William Bliss Baker". Blouin Art Sales Index. Archived from the original on February 22, 2018. Retrieved February 21, 2018.
  45. Kirby, Coffin, p.10, "Introduction".

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