Sunday, April 21, 2019

New Deal Sports & Recreation Art (7/10): "Slope"

Above: "Slope," a watercolor painting by Thomas S. Baker (1907-1986), created while he was in the WPA's Federal Art Project, 1938. According to his obituary, Baker was an expert skier, served in the Navy during World War II, and had a successful post-war career as an artist, and also as a business executive in the printing industry ("Thomas Baker, 78, water colorist," The Boston Globe, May 7, 1986). As with so many other artists, it seems that the New Deal provided Baker with the sustenance and hope he needed to continue his craft during the tough times of the 1930s, and beyond. Image courtesy of the Smithsonian American Art Museum.

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