William Bliss Baker - Biography

Biography

Baker was born November 27, 1859, in New York City, the son of Yale alumni 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 prior to 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.

Benjamin served during the American Civil War as a Colonel in the 43rd Regiment of the New York State Volunteers where he commanded the Light Division of Sixth Corps (part of the Army of the Potomac) as a Brevet Brigadier General. He was distinguished 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.

William's most well known brother was Captain Guy Ellis Baker (b. 1858), who married Louisa Irene Palma Di Cesnola, 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). 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.

For four years beginning in 1876, Baker studied at the National Academy of Design, 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. In 1885, Baker won the Hallgarten Prize for his Woodland Brook. His final work was Meadow Brook. Baker completed over 130 paintings in his career.

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, 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.

Baker was just beginning to hit his stride as a landscape painter in the Realism movement when he died on November 20, 1886 at the age of 26 of a cold at his father's house at Hoosick Falls, New York after sustaining injuries while ice skating. A contemporary art critic noted that his death was "a distinct loss to American art" and the New York Times 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).