Samuel Burtis Baker (September 29, 1882 - March 10, 1967),Elizabeth C. Haff, "Samuel Burtis Baker Rediscovered," '' American Art Review'', February/March 1994, p. 110. commonly known as Burt Baker, was an American artist and teacher, best known for his

portrait painting Portrait painting is a Hierarchy of genres, genre in painting, where the intent is to represent a specific human subject. The term 'portrait painting' can also describe the actual painted portrait. Portraitists may create their work by commissio ...

Early life and education

Baker was born in

South Boston, Massachusetts South Boston (colloquially known as Southie) is a densely populated neighborhood of Boston, Massachusetts, United States, located south and east of the Fort Point Channel and abutting Dorchester Bay (Boston Harbor), Dorchester Bay. It has under ...

,Christine Temin
“Forgotten talents of the Boston Art Club,”
''

Boston Globe ''The Boston Globe,'' also known locally as ''the Globe'', is an American daily newspaper founded and based in Boston, Massachusetts. The newspaper has won a total of 27 Pulitzer Prizes. ''The Boston Globe'' is the oldest and largest daily new ...

'', August 3, 1993. to Samuel Burtis and Jennie Morgan Brine Baker. He graduated from

The English High School The English High School in Boston, Massachusetts, founded in 1821, is one of the first public high schools in the United States. Originally called The English Classical School, it was renamed upon its first relocation in 1824.''Encyclopædia Bri ...

in Boston in 1901 as president of his class, and as winner of the Lawrence Prize for Drawing. He studied at the

Massachusetts Normal Art School Massachusetts College of Art and Design, branded as MassArt, is a Public university, public art school, college of visual art, visual and applied art in Boston, Massachusetts. Founded in 1873, it is one of the nation's oldest art schools, and t ...

in Boston from 1901 to 1906, under

Joseph DeCamp Joseph Rodefer DeCamp (November 5, 1858February 11, 1923) was an American painter and educator. Biography Born in Cincinnati, Ohio, where he studied with Frank Duveneck. In the second half of the 1870s he went with Duveneck and fellow students ...

and Ernest Lee Major. After graduating, he continued his studies in

Mystic, Connecticut Mystic is a village and census-designated place (CDP) in Groton and Stonington, Connecticut, United States. Mystic was a significant Connecticut seaport with more than 600 ships built over 135 years starting in 1784. Mystic Seaport, located in ...

, with Charles Harold Davis, and

Belmont, Massachusetts Belmont is a town in Middlesex County, Massachusetts, United States. It is a western suburb of Boston and is part of the Greater Boston metropolitan area. As of the 2020 U.S. census, its population was 27,295, an increase of 10.4% from 2010. H ...

, with Edward H. Barnard, focusing on

landscape painting Landscape painting, also known as landscape art, is the depiction in painting of natural scenery such as mountains, valleys, rivers, trees, and forests, especially where the main subject is a wide view—with its elements arranged into a cohe ...

.David B. Dearinger, editor,
Paintings and Sculpture in the Collection of the National Academy of Design, Volume I, 1826-1925
', Hudson Hills Press: New York and Manchester, 2004, p. 24.

Career

Painting

Baker opened his own studio in Boston in 1910. His early work consisted primarily of portraits of society women, educators and musicians, including a 1910 painting of his former teacher Ernest Lee Major, which was exhibited in Boston, New York, Philadelphia and Chicago, later joining the collection of the

Smithsonian American Art Museum The Smithsonian American Art Museum (SAAM; formerly the National Museum of American Art) is a museum in Washington, D.C., part of the Smithsonian Institution. Together with its branch museum, the Renwick Gallery, SAAM holds one of the world's lar ...

. Following a 1910 exhibition of 10 of his portraits at Copley Gallery in Boston, he was commissioned to do portraits for the

Harvard University Law School Harvard Law School (HLS) is the law school of Harvard University, a private research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Founded in 1817, Harvard Law School is the oldest law school in continuous operation in the United States. Each class ...

, the Massachusetts and New Hampshire state legislatures, and others. In 1916, he moved into Fenway Studios, where many of Boston's leading artists worked.Haff, ''American Art Review'', February/March 1994, p. 111. Best known as a portrait artist, he would expand his range around this time to include figure painting, landscape, cityscape and still life. During

World War I World War I or the First World War (28 July 1914 – 11 November 1918), also known as the Great War, was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War I, Allies (or Entente) and the Central Powers. Fighting to ...

, he designed

American Red Cross The American National Red Cross is a Nonprofit organization, nonprofit Humanitarianism, humanitarian organization that provides emergency assistance, disaster relief, and disaster preparedness education in the United States. Clara Barton founded ...

and

Liberty Loan A liberty bond or liberty loan was a war bond that was sold in the United States to support the Allies of World War I#Co-belligerents; the United States, Allied cause in World War I. Subscribing to the bonds became a symbol of patriotic duty ...

posters for the US government. After moving to

Washington, D.C. Washington, D.C., formally the District of Columbia and commonly known as Washington or D.C., is the capital city and federal district of the United States. The city is on the Potomac River, across from Virginia, and shares land borders with ...

, in 1921, Baker regularly exhibited with the Arts Club of Washington and the Society of Washington Artists. He was elected to the

Guild of Boston Artists The Guild of Boston Artists (The Guild) was founded in 1914 by a handful of Boston artists working in the academic and realist traditions. Among the founding members were Frank Weston Benson, William McGregor Paxton and Edmund C. Tarbell, who ...

in 1925. A ''

'' review of a 1925 solo show at the Guild of Boston Artists Gallery praised the Guild for recognizing Baker as one of the foremost painters in the US. ''Interior with Figure'' (1920) is considered to be Baker's most famous work. In it, a woman in profile holds up a small hand mirror, silhouetted against a curtained window. It won the

Corcoran Gallery of Art The Corcoran Gallery of Art is a former art museum in Washington, D.C., that is now the location of the Corcoran School of the Arts and Design, a part of the George Washington University. Founded in 1869 by philanthropist William Wilson Corco ...

's William A. Clark Prize in 1921, and was awarded a silver medal at the Corcoran's Biennial Exhibition of 1921. It made its New York debut in the

National Academy Museum and School The National Academy of Design is an honorary association of American artists, founded in New York City in 1825 by Samuel Morse, Asher Durand, Thomas Cole, Frederick Styles Agate, Martin E. Thompson, Charles Cushing Wright, Ithiel Town, an ...

's winter exhibition in 1923. The Corcoran Gallery of Art purchased the painting in 1936.Haff, ''American Art Review'', February/March 1994, p. 114. Baker's portrait of opera singer

Lillian Nordica Lillian Nordica (December 12, 1857 – May 10, 1914) was an American opera singer who had a major stage career in Europe and her native country. Nordica established herself as one of the foremost dramatic sopranos of the late 19th and early 20t ...

in costume as Brunhilde from '' Ring of the Nibelung'' was his longest-running portrait work, begun in 1910 and finally completed in 1948. It was hung at the Metropolitan Opera House in New York City, and later donated to the

Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts (also simply known as Lincoln Center) is a complex of buildings in the Lincoln Square neighborhood on the Upper West Side of Manhattan. It has thirty indoor and outdoor facilities and is host to 5 ...

.Haff, ''American Art Review'', February/March 1994, p. 157. Several of Baker's paintings were loaned to

The White House The White House is the official residence and workplace of the president of the United States. Located at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue NW in Washington, D.C., it has served as the residence of every U.S. president since John Adams in 1800 whe ...

for display in

Harry S. Truman Harry S. Truman (May 8, 1884December 26, 1972) was the 33rd president of the United States, serving from 1945 to 1953. As the 34th vice president in 1945, he assumed the presidency upon the death of Franklin D. Roosevelt that year. Subsequen ...

's private living quarters from May 1945 to October 1946.

Teaching

Baker taught drawing and design at the Rindge School in

Cambridge, Massachusetts Cambridge ( ) is a city in Middlesex County, Massachusetts, United States. It is a suburb in the Greater Boston metropolitan area, located directly across the Charles River from Boston. The city's population as of the 2020 United States census, ...

, from 1918 to 1921.Haff, ''American Art Review'', February/March 1994, p. 112. In 1921, he moved to Washington, D.C., to teach at the School of the

, where he taught life drawing, composition and drawing from antiquity. He was vice principal there from 1926 until he retired in 1935. From 1925 to 1936, he was also an adjunct professor at the College of Fine Arts at

George Washington University The George Washington University (GW or GWU) is a Private university, private University charter#Federal, federally-chartered research university in Washington, D.C., United States. Originally named Columbian College, it was chartered in 1821 by ...

, teaching drawing and painting.

Death and legacy

Baker died at his home in Washington, D.C., on March 10, 1967. He was successful during his lifetime, but had fallen into obscurity by the time of his death, in part because he was two decades younger than many of the other Boston painters with whom he was linked, and also because his representational style of painting had fallen out of fashion.Christine Temin
“Museum show or art dealer’s sale?”
''Boston Globe'', August 4, 1993. Baker had a daughter, Alden Baker, born in 1928, who went on to become an impressionist artist. In 1993, a quarter-century after his death, the Fuller Craft Museum in

Brockton, Massachusetts Brockton is a city in Plymouth County, Massachusetts, United States; the population was 105,643 at the 2020 United States census. Along with Plymouth, Massachusetts, Plymouth, it is one of the two county seats of Plymouth County, Massachusetts, ...

, held a solo show of 30 Baker paintings, in tandem with the exhibition ''A Century of Talent: Unknown Artists of the Boston Art Club'', which also included a Baker painting.

Selected exhibitions

* Boston Art Club,

Boston, MA Boston is the capital and most populous city in the Commonwealth (U.S. state), Commonwealth of Massachusetts in the United States. The city serves as the cultural and Financial centre, financial center of New England, a region of the Northeas ...

, 1908 * Pennsylvania Academy of Fine Art,

Philadelphia, PA Philadelphia ( ), colloquially referred to as Philly, is the List of municipalities in Pennsylvania, most populous city in the U.S. state of Pennsylvania and the List of United States cities by population, sixth-most populous city in the Unit ...

, various shows, 1908-33 * Copley Gallery, Boston, MA, 1910 *

Art Institute of Chicago The Art Institute of Chicago, founded in 1879, is one of the oldest and largest art museums in the United States. The museum is based in the Art Institute of Chicago Building in Chicago's Grant Park (Chicago), Grant Park. Its collection, stewa ...

Chicago, IL Chicago is the List of municipalities in Illinois, most populous city in the U.S. state of Illinois and in the Midwestern United States. With a population of 2,746,388, as of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, it is the List of Unite ...

, various shows, 1911–29 *

Panama–Pacific International Exposition The Panama–Pacific International Exposition was a world's fair held in San Francisco, California, United States, from February 20 to December 4, 1915. Its stated purpose was to celebrate the completion of the Panama Canal, but it was widely s ...

San Francisco, CA San Francisco, officially the City and County of San Francisco, is a commercial, financial, and cultural center of Northern California. With a population of 827,526 residents as of 2024, San Francisco is the fourth-most populous city in the ...

, 1915 * Doll and Richards Gallery, Boston, MA, 1915-16 *

, various shows, 1918-39Royal Cortissoz
“The Corcoran Gallery’s Eighth Exhibition,”
''

New-York Tribune The ''New-York Tribune'' (from 1914: ''New York Tribune'') was an American newspaper founded in 1841 by editor Horace Greeley. It bore the moniker ''New-York Daily Tribune'' from 1842 to 1866 before returning to its original name. From the 1840s ...

'', December 18, 1921. * Art Association of Newport, Newport, RI, 1920 * City Art Museum, St. Louis, MO, 1920 *

Detroit Institute of Arts The Detroit Institute of Arts (DIA) is a museum institution located in Midtown Detroit, Michigan. It has list of largest art museums, one of the largest and most significant art collections in the United States. With over 100 galleries, it cove ...

Detroit, MI Detroit ( , ) is the List of municipalities in Michigan, most populous city in the U.S. state of Michigan. It is situated on the bank of the Detroit River across from Windsor, Ontario. It had a population of 639,111 at the 2020 United State ...

, 1920 *

, various shows, 1922, 1925, 1927, 1948, 1959 *

New York, NY New York, often called New York City (NYC), is the List of United States cities by population, most populous city in the United States, located at the southern tip of New York State on New York Harbor, one of the world's largest natural harb ...

, 1923 * Carnegie Institute,

Pittsburgh, PA Pittsburgh ( ) is a city in Allegheny County, Pennsylvania, United States, and its county seat. It is the List of municipalities in Pennsylvania#Municipalities, second-most populous city in Pennsylvania (after Philadelphia) and the List of Un ...

, 1923 * International Exhibition of Contemporary Art,

Venice, Italy Venice ( ; ; , formerly ) is a city in northeastern Italy and the capital of the Veneto region. It is built on a group of 118 islands that are separated by expanses of open water and by canals; portions of the city are linked by 438 bridge ...

, 1924 * Charcoal Club at the

Peabody Institute The Peabody Institute of the Johns Hopkins University is a Private university, private music and dance music school, conservatory and College-preparatory school, preparatory school in Baltimore, Maryland. Founded in 1857, it became affiliat ...

Baltimore, MD Baltimore is the most populous city in the U.S. state of Maryland. With a population of 585,708 at the 2020 census and estimated at 568,271 in 2024, it is the 30th-most populous U.S. city. The Baltimore metropolitan area is the 20th-larges ...

, 1924 * Sesquicentennial International Exposition, Philadelphia, PA, 1926 *

Kansas City Art Institute The Kansas City Art Institute (KCAI) is a private art school in Kansas City, Missouri. The college was founded in 1885 and is an accredited by the National Association of Schools of Art and Design and Higher Learning Commission. The institute ...

Kansas City, MO Kansas City, Missouri, abbreviated KC or KCMO, is the largest city in the U.S. state of Missouri by List of cities in Missouri, population and area. The city lies within Jackson County, Missouri, Jackson, Clay County, Missouri, Clay, and Pl ...

, 1930 *

Library, Washington, D.C., 1951 * Fuller Craft Museum,

Brockton, MA Brockton is a city in Plymouth County, Massachusetts, United States; the population was 105,643 at the 2020 United States census. Along with Plymouth, it is one of the two county seats of Plymouth County. It is the sixth-largest city in Massac ...

, 1993

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Baker, Samuel Burtis 1882 births 1967 deaths 20th-century American painters American male painters American portrait painters American Impressionist painters Painters from Boston Painters from Washington, D.C. Massachusetts College of Art and Design alumni English High School of Boston alumni 20th-century American male artists