Background
Charles Henry Collins Baker was born in Ilminster, Somerset, the son of John Collins Baker and Fanny Henrietta Remmet.
(This scarce antiquarian book is a facsimile reprint of th...)
This scarce antiquarian book is a facsimile reprint of the original. Due to its age, it may contain imperfections such as marks, notations, marginalia and flawed pages. Because we believe this work is culturally important, we have made it available as part of our commitment for protecting, preserving, and promoting the world's literature in affordable, high quality, modern editions that are true to the original work.
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/1167075706/?tag=2022091-20
(This historic book may have numerous typos and missing te...)
This historic book may have numerous typos and missing text. Purchasers can usually download a free scanned copy of the original book (without typos) from the publisher. Not indexed. Not illustrated. 1922 edition. Excerpt: ... CHAPTER IV The Quality Of The Artist, And His Influence In discussing Lely we considered the effect of the perruque upon his reputation. It hardly, then, seems necessary to repeat that argument, merely substituting Kneller's name for Lely's. We need say no more than that we have just as much reason on our side in contending that Sir Godfrey surfers from the same cause as Sir Peter. In his case, too, we can point to such a wigless portrait as the Charterhouse Doctor Burnett to support our claim. And, such is the insidious force of prejudice, if we did not know that this noble work was by Kneller, we should rank it even higher than we do at present. If certain others of his best portraits were unwigged--for example, the Petworth Unknown Man No. 284 reproduced in m the Petworth Catalogue, 1919, the Richard Boyle, Viscount Shannon, at Bayfordbury, the Duke of Portland at Welbeck (reproduced in Lely and the Stuart Portrait Painters, II., p. 86), and the National Portrait Gallery Henry Sidney, Earl Oj Romney, and we were unaware of their authorship, we should recognise that at his top form Kneller is one of the best painters who have worked in England. As regards his position among his European contemporaries, our inveterate modesty about English produce, and the general conspiracy to believe that French painters are always better craftsmen, with better taste and a sounder tradition than British, blind us to the relative superiority of Kneller to Rigaud, Largilliere and Nattier, so far as painter-like quality and true draughtsmanship are concerned. We can go further still with perfect safety and say that, judged on the same grounds, Perronneau is Kneller's inferior. No oil painting by that admirable and expensive artist is as well...
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/1230423508/?tag=2022091-20
painter art historian surveyor queen
Charles Henry Collins Baker was born in Ilminster, Somerset, the son of John Collins Baker and Fanny Henrietta Remmet.
He was educated in Berkhamsted and the Royal Academy Schools.
A landscape painter at the beginning of his career, he exhibited at the Royal Academy in 1907 and at the New English Art Club in 1909-1916. From 1921 to 1925 he was the club"s honorary secretary. In 1911 he became the art critic for the Saturday Review, succeeding Doctorate. South. MacColl, and became an assistant and secretary to Sir Charles Holroyd, Director of the National Gallery.
While working at the Gallery he befriended East. M. Forster, who was working there as a cataloguer and guard.
In 1912 Collins Baker wrote Lely and the Stuart Portrait Painters, considered to be his most important book Ellis Waterhouse called it the "last great scholarly monument" of "the last great age of the self-taught scholar in England, before it was permissible to call oneself an art historian".
From 1914 he held the post of Keeper of the National Gallery, and was retained when Charles Holmes succeeded Holroyd as Director in 1916. Collins Baker and Holroyd have been described as the "driving forces of the Gallery" of that period.
From 1928 he took on the position of Surveyor of the King"s Pictures.
He died at his home in Finchley, Middlesex, in 1959.
(This scarce antiquarian book is a facsimile reprint of th...)
(This historic book may have numerous typos and missing te...)