Bryant Baker | |
|---|---|
 portrait by Sidney Edward Dickinson | |
| Born | Percy Bryant Baker July 8, 1881 |
| Died | March 29, 1970 (aged 88) |
| Nationality | British American |
| Education | City and Guild Technical Institute Royal Academy of Arts |
| Known for | Sculpture |
| Notable work | Pioneer Woman; L'Apres-Midi d'un Faune; George Washington, Mason |
Percy Bryant Baker (July 8, 1881 – March 29, 1970) better known as Bryant Baker, was a British-born American sculptor. He sculpted a number of busts of famous Americans (including five presidents). In 1910, Queen Alexandra of the United Kingdom commissioned him to create a bust of King Edward VII.
Baker was born on July 8, 1881, in London, United Kingdom, to John Baker, a sculptor.[1] His father and his sculptor grandfather both worked on wood and stone carvings at Westminster Abbey.[2] His brother was Robert P. Baker, also a sculptor of note.[3] He became an apprentice sculptor under his father, and carved Gothic statues for Beverley Minster and decorative elements for the Victoria and Albert Museum.[1] He studied art and sculpting at the City and Guild Technical Institute and later at the Royal Academy of Arts.[4] He graduated from the latter in 1910.[5]
In 1910, Queen Alexandra commissioned him to sculpt a bust of Edward VII.[6] She was so impressed with his work, that she then commissioned him to design a life-size statue of Edward VII, and later a bust in marble of the nine-year-old Prince Olaf of Norway.[4]
In 1916, Baker emigrated to the United States, where he enlisted in the United States Army. He served during World War I in Army hospitals, crafting artificial limbs and face masks for wounded soldiers.[4] He created a bust of John J. Pershing in 1921 and a bust of Arthur Weimar Thompson, both for the Nebraska Hall of Fame. He became a U.S. citizen in 1923.[2]
In 1928, millionaire Oklahoma oilman E. W. Marland sponsored a $100,000 competition to create a statue honoring pioneering women of the American Old West. Baker won the design competition, and in 1930 his 27-foot (8.2 m) high, 12,000 pounds (5,400 kg) statue, Pioneer Woman, was unveiled in Ponca City, Oklahoma. It became his best-known work.[4] In 1957, Baker was elected into the National Academy of Design as an Associate member, and became a full member in 1959.[citation needed]
Baker never married. In his final years, Baker lived in The Gainsborough high-rise apartment building at 222 West 59th Street in New York City. He died of unspecified causes at St. Barnabas Hospital in The Bronx on March 29, 1970.[4] He was cremated, and his ashes interred at St. Peter's Church in Fordcombe, Kent, England.[7]
Shortly after his death, the contents of his New York studio were purchased and moved to the E. W. Marland Mansion in Ponca City.[citation needed] The mansion is now known as the Ponca City Cultural Center, and Baker's studio and copies of many of his works are on display there.[citation needed]
Baker was a Freemason, and belonged to the Constitutional Lodge No. 294 at Beverley, Yorkshire, England.[5]
According to the Smithsonian Institution, several copies of Baker's works can be found at the Ponca City Cultural Center in Ponca City, Oklahoma.[10]
