William Bliss Baker
Encyclopedia
William Bliss Baker was an American
artist born in New York City
who was just beginning to hit his stride as a landscape painter in the Realism
movement when he died at his father's house at Hoosick Falls, New York
at the age of 26 due to a back injury received while ice skating several months earlier.
"Fallen Monarchs", considered to be Baker's masterpiece, was painted 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
. A small copy of this painting hangs in the public library in the town of Ballston
. His painting, "A Pleasant Day at Lake George" hangs in the Adirondack Museum at Blue Mountain Lake, New York
. Baker also had a studio in the Knickerbocker Building
in New York City. His paintings were created using oils and watercolors
, including several works done in black and white.
One of his masterpiece paintings, Morning After the Snow, sold for $5000 in 1887 (the equivalent of about $109,000 in 2006 dollars). Morning and an additional 129 of his paintings sold at that auction
for a combined total of nearly $15,000 (almost $360,000 in 2010 dollars).
, the son of Yale alumni
Benjamin F. Baker. His brother was Captain Guy Baker, who married Louisa Irene Palma Di Cesnola, daughter of Civil War
Medal of Honor
recipient General Louis Palma di Cesnola. Baker spent much of his boyhood in the town of Ballston Spa
, and he discovered the property where he would build his summer studio while fishing with a friend on Ballston Lake. The home is now a private residence, and it is not open to the public.
Baker studied at the National Academy of Design
for four years beginning in 1876, where he won the Elliott prize during his first exhibit in 1879. He studied with artist such as Albert Bierstadt
and Mauritz F. H. de Haas during this time, and by 1881, Baker had built a summer studio named "The Castle" 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. The Clifton Park Historic Preservation Commission awarded "The Castle" its Historic Designation plaque. A "Clifton Park Register of Historic Places" sign also marks the studio property.
at the age of 26. A contemporary art critic noted that his death was "a distinct loss to American art." A New York Times obituary stated that his death "deprived America of one of its most promising artists."
He is buried in a family plot in Albany Rural Cemetery
in Menands, New York
(see image, right).
Title sources:
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
artist born in New York City
New York City
New York is the most populous city in the United States and the center of the New York Metropolitan Area, one of the most populous metropolitan areas in the world. New York exerts a significant impact upon global commerce, finance, media, art, fashion, research, technology, education, and...
who was just beginning to hit his stride as a landscape painter in the Realism
Realism (arts)
Realism in the visual arts and literature refers to the general attempt to depict subjects "in accordance with secular, empirical rules", as they are considered to exist in third person objective reality, without embellishment or interpretation...
movement when he died at his father's house at Hoosick Falls, New York
Hoosick Falls, New York
Hoosick Falls is a village in Rensselaer County, New York, United States. The population was 3,182 at the 2010 census, a decline of 254 since 2000. During its peak around 1900, the village had a population of about 7,000...
at the age of 26 due to a back injury received while ice skating several months earlier.
"Fallen Monarchs", considered to be Baker's masterpiece, was painted in the Ballston Lake area. The original is owned by Brigham Young University
Brigham Young University
Brigham Young University is a private university located in Provo, Utah. It is owned and operated by The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints , and is the United States' largest religious university and third-largest private university.Approximately 98% of the university's 34,000 students...
in Provo, Utah
Provo, Utah
Provo is the third largest city in the U.S. state of Utah, located about south of Salt Lake City along the Wasatch Front. Provo is the county seat of Utah County and lies between the cities of Orem to the north and Springville to the south...
, where it hangs in the BYU Museum of Art
Brigham Young University Museum of Art
The Brigham Young University Museum of Art, located in Provo, Utah, is the university's primary art museum and is one of the best attended university-campus art museums in the United States. The museum, which had been discussed for more than fifty years, opened in a space in October 1993 with a...
. A small copy of this painting hangs in the public library in the town of Ballston
Ballston, New York
Ballston is a town in Saratoga County, New York, USA. The population was 8,729 at the 2000 census. The name is derived from an early settler, Eliphalet Ball.The Town of Ballston is in the south part of the County and is north of Schenectady....
. His painting, "A Pleasant Day at Lake George" hangs in the Adirondack Museum at Blue Mountain Lake, New York
Blue Mountain Lake, New York
Blue Mountain Lake is a rural hamlet in the Town of Indian Lake of Hamilton County, New York located at the intersection of New York Routes 28 and 30 with a population of 146 according to the 2000 United States Census. Blue Mountain Lake also refers to the lake on the banks of which the village is...
. Baker also had a studio in the Knickerbocker Building
Knickerbocker Building
The Knickerbocker Building is an eclectic, late century industrial building located at 50-52 Webster Avenue in New Rochelle, New York, USA. It was listed in the National Register of Historic Places as Knickerbocker Press Building in 2000, with description of its architecture as Dutch Colonial...
in New York City. His paintings were created using oils and watercolors
Watercolor painting
Watercolor or watercolour , also aquarelle from French, is a painting method. A watercolor is the medium or the resulting artwork in which the paints are made of pigments suspended in a water-soluble vehicle...
, including several works done in black and white.
One of his masterpiece paintings, Morning After the Snow, sold for $5000 in 1887 (the equivalent of about $109,000 in 2006 dollars). Morning and an additional 129 of his paintings sold at that auction
Art sale
An art auction is the sale of art works, in most cases in an auction house.In England this dates from the latter part of the 17th century, when in most cases the names of the auctioneers were suppressed...
for a combined total of nearly $15,000 (almost $360,000 in 2010 dollars).
Early life and training
Baker was born in 1859 in New York CityNew York City
New York is the most populous city in the United States and the center of the New York Metropolitan Area, one of the most populous metropolitan areas in the world. New York exerts a significant impact upon global commerce, finance, media, art, fashion, research, technology, education, and...
, the son of Yale alumni
Yale University
Yale University is a private, Ivy League university located in New Haven, Connecticut, United States. Founded in 1701 in the Colony of Connecticut, the university is the third-oldest institution of higher education in the United States...
Benjamin F. Baker. His brother was Captain Guy Baker, who married Louisa Irene Palma Di Cesnola, daughter of Civil War
American Civil War
The American Civil War was a civil war fought in the United States of America. In response to the election of Abraham Lincoln as President of the United States, 11 southern slave states declared their secession from the United States and formed the Confederate States of America ; the other 25...
Medal of Honor
Medal of Honor
The Medal of Honor is the highest military decoration awarded by the United States government. It is bestowed by the President, in the name of Congress, upon members of the United States Armed Forces who distinguish themselves through "conspicuous gallantry and intrepidity at the risk of his or her...
recipient General Louis Palma di Cesnola. Baker spent much of his boyhood in the town of Ballston Spa
Ballston Spa, New York
Ballston Spa is a village in Saratoga County, New York, United States. The population was 5,556 at the 2000 census. It is the county seat of Saratoga County. The village is named after Rev. Eliphalet Ball, a Congregationalist clergyman and an early settler. The village lies on the border of two...
, and he discovered the property where he would build his summer studio while fishing with a friend on Ballston Lake. The home is now a private residence, and it is not open to the public.
Baker studied at the National Academy of Design
National Academy of Design
The National Academy Museum and School of Fine Arts, founded in New York City as the National Academy of Design – known simply as the "National Academy" – is an honorary association of American artists founded in 1825 by Samuel F. B. Morse, Asher B. Durand, Thomas Cole, Martin E...
for four years beginning in 1876, where he won the Elliott prize during his first exhibit in 1879. He studied with artist such as Albert Bierstadt
Albert Bierstadt
Albert Bierstadt was a German-American painter best known for his lavish, sweeping landscapes of the American West. In obtaining the subject matter for these works, Bierstadt joined several journeys of the Westward Expansion...
and Mauritz F. H. de Haas during this time, and by 1881, Baker had built a summer studio named "The Castle" on the east side of Ballston Lake in the town of Clifton Park
Clifton Park, New York
Clifton Park is a town in Saratoga County, New York, United States. According to the United States Census Bureau, the 2009 population estimate for Clifton Park was 36,469. The name is derived from an early land patent...
, north of Albany, New York
Albany, New York
Albany is the capital city of the U.S. state of New York, the seat of Albany County, and the central city of New York's Capital District. Roughly north of New York City, Albany sits on the west bank of the Hudson River, about south of its confluence with the Mohawk River...
. The studio was designed to have excellent views of the Catskill
Catskill Mountains
The Catskill Mountains, an area in New York State northwest of New York City and southwest of Albany, are a mature dissected plateau, an uplifted region that was subsequently eroded into sharp relief. They are an eastward continuation, and the highest representation, of the Allegheny Plateau...
and Berkshire Mountains, and had excellent natural lighting. The Clifton Park Historic Preservation Commission awarded "The Castle" its Historic Designation plaque. A "Clifton Park Register of Historic Places" sign also marks the studio property.
Death
Baker injured his back while ice skating, and subsequently died at his father's house at Hoosick Falls, New YorkHoosick Falls, New York
Hoosick Falls is a village in Rensselaer County, New York, United States. The population was 3,182 at the 2010 census, a decline of 254 since 2000. During its peak around 1900, the village had a population of about 7,000...
at the age of 26. A contemporary art critic noted that his death was "a distinct loss to American art." A New York Times obituary stated that his death "deprived America of one of its most promising artists."
He is buried in a family plot in Albany Rural Cemetery
Albany Rural Cemetery
The Albany Rural Cemetery was established October 7, 1844, in Menands, New York, just outside of the city of Albany, New York. It is renowned as one of the most beautiful, pastoral cemeteries in the United States, at over . Many historical American figures are buried there.-History:On April 2,...
in Menands, New York
Menands, New York
Menands is a village in Albany County, New York, United States. The population was 3,990 at the 2010 census. The village is named after Louis Menand...
(see image, right).
Color
- Hiding in the Haycocks (1881, housed in the Memphis Brooks Museum of ArtMemphis Brooks Museum of ArtMemphis Brooks Museum of Art is an art museum in Memphis, Tennessee. The Brooks Museum, which was founded in 1916, is the oldest and largest art museum in the state of Tennessee. The museum is a privately funded nonprofit institution located in Overton Park in Midtown Memphis.The original...
)_by_william_bliss_baker.jpg)
- Landscape: Grez (ca.1882, housed as part of the Horace C. Henry Collection at the Henry Art GalleryHenry Art GalleryThe Henry Art Gallery is the art museum of the University of Washington in Seattle, Washington, USA. Located on the west edge of the university's campus along 15th Avenue N.E. in the University District, it was founded in 1927 and was the first public art museum in the state of Washington. The...
at University of WashingtonUniversity of WashingtonUniversity of Washington is a public research university, founded in 1861 in Seattle, Washington, United States. The UW is the largest university in the Northwest and the oldest public university on the West Coast. The university has three campuses, with its largest campus in the University...
) - A Pleasant Day at Lake George (1883, housed in the Adirondack MuseumAdirondack MuseumThe Adirondack Museum, located on NY-30 in the hamlet of Blue Mountain Lake in Hamilton County, New York, is a museum dedicated to preserving the history of the Adirondacks...
, Blue Mountain Lake, New YorkBlue Mountain Lake, New YorkBlue Mountain Lake is a rural hamlet in the Town of Indian Lake of Hamilton County, New York located at the intersection of New York Routes 28 and 30 with a population of 146 according to the 2000 United States Census. Blue Mountain Lake also refers to the lake on the banks of which the village is...
) - View of New York Harbor, with Brooklyn Bridge in the Distance (1883)
- October Morning (1884)
- First Fall of Snow (1884)
- First Snow of Winter (1884)
- Woodland Brook (ca.1884-1885, housed at the Montreal Museum of Fine ArtsMontreal Museum of Fine ArtsThe Montreal Museum of Fine Arts is a major museum in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. Founded in 1860, making it Canada's oldest art institution, it moved to its current location in 1912 thanks to a large donation from businessman James Ross....
in MontréalMontrealMontreal is a city in Canada. It is the largest city in the province of Quebec, the second-largest city in Canada and the seventh largest in North America...
) - Lake Luzerne (ca.1885)
- Morning After the Snow (1885, housed in the Regina A. Quick Center for the Arts, St. Bonaventure UniversitySt. Bonaventure UniversitySt. Bonaventure University is a private, Franciscan Catholic university, located in Allegany, Cattaraugus County, New York, United States. It has roughly 2,400 undergraduate and graduate students....
) - Fallen Monarchs (1886, housed in the Museum of Art at Brigham Young UniversityBrigham Young UniversityBrigham Young University is a private university located in Provo, Utah. It is owned and operated by The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints , and is the United States' largest religious university and third-largest private university.Approximately 98% of the university's 34,000 students...
) - Under the Apple-Trees (1886)
- A Cool Retreat (unknown)
- April Day (unknown)
- April Snow (unknown)
- Autumn in Woods (unknown)
- Autumn Woods (unknown)
- Branches of Elm (unknown)
- Cattle Grazing Near a Stream Through the Pasture (unknown)
- Church Beyond a Meadow (unknown)
- Clover Field (unknown)
- Corn Fields and Pasture (unknown)
- Dead Leaves (unknown)
- Dried Up (unknown)
- Early Autumn (unknown)
- Edge of the Woods (unknown)
- Fallen (a study) (unknown)
- A Forest Glade (unknown)
- Forest Sunshine (unknown)
- A Haze (unknown)
- In the Old Pasture (unknown)
- June Pastures (unknown)
- June Sunshine (unknown)
- Landscape with Cattle (unknown)
- Meadow Brook (unknown)
- Morning in the Meadows (unknown)
- The Old Orchard (unknown)
- Orchard in June (unknown)
- A Quiet Pond, Connecticut (unknown, reviewed in An Alluring Path III)
- Schoharie Creek (unknown)
- Second Growth Timber (unknown)
- Shadows in the Pool (unknown)
- Shady Pool (unknown)
- Snow Scene (unknown)
- Solitude (unknown)
- Spring Pasture (unknown)
- Still Pool in the Woods (unknown)
- Study of Snow (unknown)
- Summer Afternoon (unknown)
- Summer Evening (unknown)
- Sunny Brook (unknown)
- Sunrise on New York Harbor (unknown)
- Under the Apple Trees (unknown)
- Wood Interior (unknown)
- Wood Interior (#2) (unknown)
- Wood Interior (#3) (unknown)
- Woodland Scene (unknown)
Title sources: