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Portrait of Warren Delano III

William Jacob Baer1896

The Walters Art Museum

The Walters Art Museum
Baltimore, United States

Warren Delano III (1852-1920), Henry Walters' brother-in-law, served as vice president of the Louisville and Nashville Railroad. While surveying the railroad's land holdings on horseback, he was sometimes accompanied by his young nephew, Franklin Delano Roosevelt, the future president. As indicated by the inscription in French, this miniature commemorates the 20th wedding anniversary of Warren and Jennie Delano (Henry's sister).

William Jacob Baer was born in Cincinnati in 1860, where he was trained in lithography. In 1880 he traveled to Munich to study drawing and painting at the Royal Academy. When he returned to the United States, he lived in New Jersey where he taught drawing and painting at Princeton University. In 1893 he moved to New York and where he first painted portrait miniatures; by 1894 he had given up easel painting all together to focus exclusively on this genre. He helped found the American Society of Miniature Painters, and is considered instrumental in the revival of miniature at the end of the 19th century. Baer exhibited both nationally and internationally, at the Exposition Universelle (1900), Pan-American Exposition (1901), Louisiana Purchase Exposition (1904), and the Panama-Pacific Exposition (1915), where he work was well received. He seems to have found particular success with Henry Walters and his relatives. The Walters Art Museum holds six works on ivory by the artist.

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  • Title: Portrait of Warren Delano III
  • Creator: William Jacob Baer (American, 1860-1941)
  • Date Created: 1896
  • External Link: For more information about this and thousands of other works of art in the Walters Art Museum collection, please visit art.thewalters.org
  • Roles: Painter: William Jacob Baer (American, 1860-1941)
  • Provenance: Laura Delano; Walters Art Museum, December 31, 1965, by gift.
  • Object Type: miniatures (paintings); portraits
  • Medium: watercolor on ivory, gold frame
  • Inscriptions: [Signature] W. J. BAER; [Number] OP[us].54.1896; [Transcription] Engraved on the reverse of the frame: Vingt ans après. July 11, 1876
  • Exhibitions: The Miniatures of William J. Baer. The Walters Art Museum, Baltimore. 2006.
  • Dimensions: H: 4 5/8 x W: 3 1/16 in. (11.8 x 7.8 cm)
  • Credit Line: Gift of Miss Laura F. Delano, 1965
  • Classification: Miniatures
  • Accession Number: 38.624
The Walters Art Museum

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