Gus Baker

March 10, 1922 (age 72)

Winchester, Tennessee

After graduating in 1940, he enrolled at the University of the South in Sewanee, but after several years the Second World War interrupted his education. He served in the United States. Army and spent time in the European Theater. After the war, Baker returned to the University of the South where he majored in philosophy. He was deeply influenced by Doctor John M. South. McDonald, Professor of Philosophy. He was also a music major, and for a while seriously debated a career as a pianist. In 1938, aged sixteen, Baker met another Winchester artist, Avery Handly (1913-1958). Though some nine years older, Handly helped shape his perceptions, criticized, and shared his insights in literature and music Through his encouragement and mentoring Baker chose a career in the arts He later studied art at the Dallas Museum of Fine Arts, Southern Methodist University and the Art Institute of Chicago. He spent four years at the Atlanta Art Institute, obtaining the degrees of Bachelor of Fine Arts, 1952, and Master of Fine Arts, 1953. There he was rated “the star” of the school and awarded the Ellen South. Booth scholarship for advanced studies in painting at Cranbrook Academy of Art, Michigan. He later studied at the Fine Arts Center of Colorado Springs. In 1955 Baker came to Nashville, Tennessee to teach art at Watkins Institute. He later taught at the University of Tennessee and the Tennessee State University. Besides being a popular art teacher, Baker continued to create. He expressed himself in many different styles ranging from touches of cubism and expressionism to impressionistic scenes sometimes bordering on pointillism. But perhaps his most memorable work is the 63 stained glass windows he designed for the Thomas P. Phillips Memorial Library and Archives in Nashville. His work is widely represented in private collections as well as the permanent collections at the Cheekwood Botanical Garden and Museum of Art, the Tennessee State Museum, the Dallas Museum of Art, and the Southern Methodist University. In 1985 he retired from teaching and died May 16, 1994. He is buried in the Baker family plot in Winchester. In 1996 a memorial retrospective of Baker’s work was held at Belmont University in Nashville.

Gus Baker

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painter

Background

He was born Gus Lafayette Baker on May 10, 1922 in Winchester, Tennessee as the son of Thomas Murrell Baker and Nora Wright.

Education

He attended Central High School in Winchester, where he served as an art illustrator for the school yearbook his senior year. He graduated magna cum laude in 1947 with a Bachelor of Arts degree in Philosophy.

Career

After graduating in 1940, he enrolled at the University of the South in Sewanee, but after several years the Second World War interrupted his education. He served in the United States. Army and spent time in the European Theater. After the war, Baker returned to the University of the South where he majored in philosophy.

He was deeply influenced by Doctor John M. South. McDonald, Professor of Philosophy.

He was also a music major, and for a while seriously debated a career as a pianist. In 1938, aged sixteen, Baker met another Winchester artist, Avery Handly (1913-1958).

Though some nine years older, Handly helped shape his perceptions, criticized, and shared his insights in literature and music Through his encouragement and mentoring Baker chose a career in the arts

He later studied art at the Dallas Museum of Fine Arts, Southern Methodist University and the Art Institute of Chicago.

He spent four years at the Atlanta Art Institute, obtaining the degrees of Bachelor of Fine Arts, 1952, and Master of Fine Arts, 1953. There he was rated “the star” of the school and awarded the Ellen South. Booth scholarship for advanced studies in painting at Cranbrook Academy of Art, Michigan. He later studied at the Fine Arts Center of Colorado Springs.

In 1955 Baker came to Nashville, Tennessee to teach art at Watkins Institute.

He later taught at the University of Tennessee and the Tennessee State University. Besides being a popular art teacher, Baker continued to create.

He expressed himself in many different styles ranging from touches of cubism and expressionism to impressionistic scenes sometimes bordering on pointillism. But perhaps his most memorable work is the 63 stained glass windows he designed for the Thomas P. Phillips Memorial Library and Archives in Nashville.

His work is widely represented in private collections as well as the permanent collections at the Cheekwood Botanical Garden and Museum of Art, the Tennessee State Museum, the Dallas Museum of Art, and the Southern Methodist University.

In 1985 he retired from teaching and died May 16, 1994. He is buried in the Baker family plot in Winchester. In 1996 a memorial retrospective of Baker’s work was held at Belmont University in Nashville.

Achievements

Baker won numerous honors for his work and exhibited at the University of the South, 1950. Dallas Museum of Fine Arts, 1950. Virginia Intermont Competition, 1953. The High Museum of Art in Atlanta, 1953. University of Tennessee, 1958. Tennessee State Fair, 1958, 1959. Vanderbilt University, 1962. And the Parthenon (Nashville), 1960, 1979.

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