Anna P. Baker

She exhibited frequently in her home town of London, Ontario, and for many years at the 57th Street Art Fair in Chicago, and in many cities from Los Angeles to New York.

[1] Baker remained a Canadian citizen but for the last 29 years of her life, she lived in the village of Barton, Vermont, where she opted to bow out of the world of dealers and galleries so she could work in her own way on her own terms.

On the subject of art, she created The Rosa Bonheur Series, 18 paintings in which she visualized the French realist painter and sculptor on imaginary world travels.

On history: Before Salisbury, Laura Secord and Her Cow, The Trojan Horse (created while still at the Art Institute of Chicago), Queen Victoria Reviewing the Troops with the Duke of Wellington After Landseer, Two Phoenicians.

In the last series of 13 paintings, the titles included The Cat that Swallowed the Lace, He Knew Cream Quite Well and Constantly Refused Tea With Only Milk in It, and If the Supposed Robbers Would Come to Him He would Fight Them, Our Idea of the Dignity of Silence was Paling Before our Curiosity, She Did Not Seem to Notice the Extraordinary Size and Complexity of Her Headdress.

Baker received awards including the Frank G Logan prize at the Chicago and Vicinity Exhibition in 1956 for High Frequency Ping[1] and from the New England Press, Best Illustration, Daily, Class 1, First Place, Times Argus.

Her pictures reveal the true mark of genius – an originality and technical excellence that offer her viewers a glimpse into a personal world of her own devising."

Like all good art, Ms. Baker's compositions are basically abstract, but the images that she develops often are quizzical, evoked in dots, dashes, and color shapes that leave no area without interest."

"Fanciful geometric wisps, suggesting the architecture of flowers and snow stars form the cellular structure of man and beast as created by artist Anna Baker.

Her work can be seen here only at the Little Gallery, 1328 E. 57th St. which is directed by Mary Louise Womer and Mrs. Carl Schniewind, widow of the late director of the Art institute's prints and drawings department.