Walter Emerson Baum

One of the few Pennsylvania Impressionists actually born in Bucks County, Walter Emerson Baum painted the Pennsylvania landscape in the styles of Impressionism and American Realism. Having lived his whole life in Sellersville, Baum was described as the man "who discovered the beauty of Main Street." Baum worked en plein air, painting snow scenes outdoors from nature even in the worst winter storms. He studied at the Pennsylvania Academy of Fine Arts under Daniel Garber, William Trego and Thomas Anshutz, winning the Jennie Sesnan Gold Medal in 1925.

Baum was a co-founder and the first director of the Allentown Art Museum, established in 1939. He established the Kline-Baum Art School (later the Baum School of Art) in Allentown and the Bucks County Traveling Art Gallery. As an instructor, Baum was respected and inspired others.

Baum was also a prolific writer and worked as art editor and critic for the Philadelphia Evening Bulletin. He wrote the book Two Hundred Years about Pennsylvania's rich history.

Education and Training
Apprentice to painter William T. Trego, 1904-1909
Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, 1910

Teachers and Influences
Studied under William T. Trego, Thomas Anshutz and Daniel Garber
Influenced by Robert Henri and the Ash Can School as well as by Thomas Eakins, French and American impressionists, and Walter Schofield

Connection to Bucks County
Walter Emerson Baum was one of a few Pennsylvanian Impressionists who was born in Bucks County, living his entire life in Sellersville. He created the Bucks County Traveling Art Gallery to teach students about the Bucks County Artists.

Colleagues and Affiliations
He was a member of the Phillips' Mill Community Association and the New Hope Art Associates.

Affiliations and Memberships
American Artists Professional League
American Watercolor Society
Allentown-Bethlehem Art Alliance
Buck Hill Arts Association
Germantown Art League
Lehigh Art Alliance
Associate Member, National Academy of Design Fellowship of the Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, 1939
Philadelphia Art Alliance
Philadelphia Sketch Club
Philadelphia Watercolor Club

Major Solo Exhibitions
Walter E. Baum, A.N.A., Exhibition in Retrospect, 1923-1953, Playhouse Galleries, New Hope, Pennsylvania, 1953
Retrospective Show, Forrest Gallery, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, 1954

Major Group Exhibitions
Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, 1914-1916, 1918-1920, 1922, 1924-1926, 1928-1954
Corcoran Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C., 1916, 1926, 1935, 1937, 1939, 1941, 1943, 1947, 1951
National Academy of Design, New York, New York, 1926, 1928, 1933, 1936, 1938, 1941-1950
Audubon Artists, New York, New York, 1953
Art Institute of Chicago, Chicago, Illinois
Brooklyn Museum, Brooklyn, New York
Baltimore Museum of Art, Baltimore, Maryland
Detroit Institute of Art, Detroit, Michigan
Fort Worth Museum of Art, Fort Worth, Texas
Annual Art Exhibitions, Phillips' Mill Community Association, New Hope, Pennsylvania
Philadelphia Art Club, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
St. Louis Museum, St. Louis, Mississippi
The Pennsylvania School of Landscape Painting: An Original American Impressionism, Traveling Exhibition; Allentown Museum, Corcoran Gallery of Art, Westmoreland County Museum, Brandywine River Museum, 1984-1985
The Pennsylvania School of Landscape Painting: An Original American Impressionism, Kemerer Museum, Bethlehem, Pennsylvania, 1984
The Pennsylvania Impressionists: Painters of the New Hope School, Michener Art Museum, Doylestown, Pennsylvania, 1990
The Lenfest Exhibition of Pennsylvania Impressionism, Michener Art Museum, Doylestown, Pennsylvania, 2001 (ongoing)
Objects of Desire: Treasures from Private Collections, Michener Art Museum, New Hope, Pennsylvania, 2005-2006
An Evolving Legacy: Twenty Years of Collecting at the James A. Michener Art Museum, Michener Art Museum, Doylestown, Pennsylvania, 2009-2010
Bucks County and the Philadelphia Sketch Club, Michener Art Museum, Doylestown, Pennsylvania, 2010

Major Collections
Philadelphia Museum of Art, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
Toledo Art Museum, Toledo, Ohio
National Academy of Design, New York, New York
Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
Michener Art Museum
Private Collection of President Franklin D. Roosevelt

Nonfiction
Two Hundred Years, Sellersville, Pennsylvania
The Sellersville Herald, 1938

Teaching and Professional Appointments
Art Instructor, Allentown, Pennsylvania, 1926-1956
Founder and Director, Baum School of Art (formerly Kline-Baum School), Allentown, Pennsylvania, 1928
Associate Academian, the National Academy of Design, 1944
One of the founders of the Allentown Art Museum, 1939

Major Awards
Bronze Medal, American Artist's Exhibition, Philadelphia, 1918
Jennie Sesnan Gold Medal, Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts, Philadelphia, 1925
Price, Springville, Utah, 1932
Prize, Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, 1939
Prize, American Society of Miniature Painters, New York, New York, 1943
Medal, Philadelphia Watercolor Club, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, 1944
Prize, American Watercolor Society, 1945
Prize, Buck Hill Art Association, Pennsylvania, 1945
Honorary Doctor of Humane Letters, Lehigh University, 1946
M. Grumbacher Purchase Prize for Casein, Audubon Artists, 1953
Medal of Honor, National Arts Club, 1953
Gold Medal Award, awarded posthumously, daVinci Alliance, Philadelphia, 1956