Martha Baker

Artist Details

• First Name Martha
• Middle Name Susan
• Maiden Name Baker
• Surname Baker
• Spouse’s Full Name n/a
• Previous Spouse(s) n/a
• Names and Birth Years of Children n/a
• Birth Date December 25, 1871
• Birth Place Evansville, Indiana
• Death Date December 21, 1911
• Death Place Chicago, Illinois
• Residence(s) 1911:  12 W. Chestnut St., Chicago, Illinois
• Active In Chicago, Illinois
• Studio Location(s) 1895-1987: 7737 Emerald Ave., Chicago, Illinois 1898: 1026 Fine Arts Building, Chicago, Illinois 1898: Art Institute of Chicago, Chicago, Illinois 1899-1901: 1026 Fine Arts Building, Chicago, Illinois 1909: Pearson St., Chicago, Illinois 1911: Fine Arts Building, Chicago, Illinois
• Categories Miniaturist, Muralist, Painter-Oil, Pastelist, Watercolorist
• Training 1897: graduated from School of the Art Institute of Chicago; highest honors
  1906–1909: studied pastel drawing, Paris, France
  
• Relevant Travel 1906-1909: Paris
• Subject(s) of Art Array
• Exhibitions History 1893: World's Columbian Exposition, Chicago, Illinois (Illinois Building)
  
  1895: Annual Exhibition of the Art Students League of Chicago, Art Institute of Chicago, Chicago, Illinois
  
  1897-1912: Annual Exhibition of Works by Chicago Artists, Art Institute of Chicago, Chicago, Illinois (12 times)
  
  1900: Exposition Universelle in Paris, France
  
  1904: Louisiana Purchase Exposition, St. Louis, Missouri
  
  1904: Carnegie Institute Annual Exhibit of Paintings
  
  1905: Chicago Society of Artists
  
  1908: Royal Academy, London, England
  
  1909: Salon de la Societie des Artistes Français, Paris
  
  American Society of Miniature Painters
  
  1900: Expo Universelle, Paris, France
  
  1904: Annual Exhibition of Paintings, Carnegie Institute, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania
  
  1908: Royal Academy, London, England
  
  1912: Memorial Exhibit of Works of the Late Martha Baker, Art Institute of Chicago, Chicago, Illinois
  
  Paris Salon
  
  Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts
• Collections Cincinnati Art Museum, Cincinnati, Ohio
  
  Cleveland Art Museum, Cleveland, Ohio
  
  Fine Arts Building, Chicago (murals)
  
  M. Christine Schwartz Collection, Northbrook, Illinois
  
  Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, New York (miniature of Elizabeth Humphrey, 1899)         Louvre, Paris
  
  Union League Club, Chicago, Illinois
  
  Vanderpoel Collection, Beverly, Illinois
• Publications

  A Memorial Exhibition of Works by the Late Martha S. Baker at the Art Institute of Chicago, Oct. 1 to 23, 1912

• Memberships 1901: Art Association of Chicago, Illinois
  
  Chicago Society of Artists
  
  Society of Western Artists
  
  Union League Club, Chicago, Illinois
  
  Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, New York (miniature of Elizabeth Humphrey, 1899)         Louvre, Paris
  
  Fine Arts Building, Chicago (murals)
  
  Vanderpoel Collection, Beverly, Illinois
• Awards 1895, 1905: Municipal Art League Prize, Art Institute of Chicago, Illinois
  
  1897: First prize, Arche Salon Exhibit, Chicago, Illinois
  
  1897: First prize for Miniatures, Chicago Architectural Salon, Chicago, Illinois
  
  1899: State Fair:  Fine Art - First Premium, Portrait; First Premium, Head; First and Second Premium, Figure Painting; Second Premium, Landscape; Second Premium, Marine View; Premium, Best Oil Painting; Watercolors - First Premium, Portrait; Second Premium, Head; Second Premium, Landscape
  
  1904: Bronze medal for Miniatures, Louisiana Purchase Exposition, St. Louis, Missouri
  
  1904: Carnegie Institute Annual Exhibit of Paintings, Carnegie Institute,
  
  1905: Silver medal, Chicago Society of Artists, Art Institute of Chicago, Chicago, Illinois
  
  1909: Honorable mention, Salon de la Society des Artistes Français, Paris,
• Other Occupation(s) 1898-1904: taught sketching and watercolor at School of the Art Institute of Chicago, Chicago, Illinois
  
  1904-1905: taught at Chicago Academy of Fine Arts
• Website(s) Biography by Wendy Greenhouse, PhD., for M. Christine Schwartz Collection website
  
  Catalog of Memorial Exhibition of Works by the Late Martha S. Baker, Art Institute of Chicago, October 1912; lists the 52 works included and has black and white illustrations of 15 works
• Biography parents: Charles E. and Susan H. Baker
  
  Baker’s early paintings were characterized by a subdued, almost monochromatic palette. After she studied pastel drawing during an extended stay in Paris in 1906–1909, her work shifted toward what a contemporary deemed a more “modern” manner, characterized by the brighter color evident in her vivid Self-Portrait.