TitleA Fair Student
Artist
George Augustus Baker Jr.
(American, 1821 - 1880)
Daten.d.
MediumOil on canvas
DimensionsUnframed: 29 × 24 in.
SubmissionNA diploma presentation, April 26, 1852
Credit LineNational Academy of Design, New York, NY
Object number45-P
Label TextAlthough Baker's practice as a painter was in overwhelmingly in portraiture, he chose to present to the Academy as the "representative example of his work" a subject painting, perhaps to express to his peers his desire and ability to work in the more respected area of figure painting. It is interesting to note, however, that the formal distinction between portraiture and a generalized ideal type is remarkably ambiguous in Baker's painting.
