Today we remember John I. H. Baur, Curator of Paintings and Sculpture at the Brooklyn Museum of Art from 1936-52, with this 1974 portrait of him by Alice Neel that is currently on view in our American galleries. Baur passed away thirty years ago today. He was a specialist in American art and brought major works into the museum’s collection during these two decades. In the painting he is dressed in a conservative suit, but nevertheless emanates a sense of humanity and warmth, thanks to Neel’s brilliant ability as a portraitist to bring out the human qualities in her subjects.
Posted by Susan Fisher Alice Neel (American, 1900-1984). John I. H. Baur, 1974. Oil on canvas. Brooklyn Museum, Gift of Hartley and Richard Neel © artist or artist's estate.