Bucks County Herald – December 8, 2010

Baum Display Case - Quakertown High School

Dear Friends,

Good morning. Last week, Mighty Betsy and I attended the dedication of the new display case showing eight exquisite paintings of Walter Emerson Baum. A sizable crowd of well-wishers heard the story of the Sellersville artist, probably the most prolific of the 20^th Century art scene in Bucks County.

Before the program began, I had a visit with Jane Steeley Van Horn who had a connection to one of the Baum paintings. We were gazing at “Conversation,” a large oil that showed two neighbors chatting by a Bucks County house. Jane Van Horn was a member of the Quakertown High School class of 1963. When her friend and classmate, Gary Holland, was killed in the Vietnam War in 1967, she bought this painting and dedicated it to Holland.

Kathleen O’Dea was responsible for cleaning, restoring, and conserving the eight paintings. While it cost $10,589 to accomplish the mission, she emphasized that not a taxpayer penny went into the caring for the paintings or the handsome exhibition cases, which display the artwork.

In her remarks, she noted that at the height of the art world sales in 2007, Alderfer’s auction house had appraised the eight paintings for $183,000.

“But the real hero of this event is Lynn Kraft,” O’Dea continued. Kraft is a retired QHS art teacher who was the quarter back for the three-year project.

Susan Quinque, a fellow art teacher with Kraft praised her colleague for his efforts. Quinque and Kraft had a combined career of 50 years teaching at QHS. She introduced Kraft who explained how the two display cases were designed. “The two glass cases are on angles to prevent onlookers from seeing their reflections,” Kraft explained. “We didn’t want schoolgirls using the display cases as mirrors to adjust their makeup.”

The larger of the two cases contain the eight Baum paintings. An adjacent case displays students’ and community artists’ work. Kraft introduced Calvin Ruth and told the gathering that the retired Quakertown artist and former teacher has several large and miniature paintings on display. Ruth used miniatures as a catalogue of his life work. The community case changes every two months.

Lisa Andreijko is the Superintendent of the Quakertown School district. She made a point of telling us that the Quakertown Community Education Foundation (QCEF) organized and financed the project. Donations of time and money spared taxpayers from any expense.

George Moore is an Allentown architect who donated his time and supervision of the display cases. Lewis Brothers of Quakertown built the cases. The project cost approximately $26,000 and was funded through the generosity of the Erwin J. and Gertrude Neusch Fund; Grim, Biehn, and Thatcher; QNB; Martha Fisher; Willard and Gladys Benner; and Larry Miley.

We learned during the last century, alumni and friends of the Quakertown schools would purchase Baum paintings and donate them. The original Baum collection held ten paintings. Two have never been found.

John Detweiler is a member of the QCEF board of directors. When the Baum paintings came to light, he recommended O’Dea for their restoration.

One of Baum’s grandchildren, J. Lawrence Grim, Jr., gave a description of the famous painter’s life. Grim pointed to a large canvass, which shows a snow scene looking down on Sellersville from the Ridge Road and Route 309. It is one of my favorite Baum paintings.

Grim told us that Baum was the art critic for the Philadelphia Evening Bulletin. Lehigh University awarded him a Doctor of Humanities degree and the Morning Call named him the most influential man in the arts for the 20^th Century.

The Sellersville painter established the Baum School of Art in Allentown 85 years ago and was one of the founders of the Allentown Art Museum. “My grandfather was a friend of education,” Grim told the audience. “He also served on the Sellersville School Board.

“Many Bucks County schools have famous paintings hanging on their walls thanks to Walter Baum,” Grim continued. “As a Bulletin art critic, Baum was not mean spirited and praised artist shows rather than criticizing them. Through the friendships that he’d generated in the art world, Baum convinced the likes of Redfield and Garber to donate paintings to the Bucks County Intermediate Schools which distributed the paintings throughout the county.”

As a student at the Pennsylvania Academy of Fine Arts, Baum won the Jenny Sesne Prize for landscape painting. “It was like winning the lottery,” Grim told me. “The painting is titled “Sunlight and Shadow.”

One of Baum’s teachers and mentors was William Trego from nearby North Wales. Trego was known for historic epic scenes. “Washington at Valley Forge” is a painting, which Grim described.

“Trego had polio and could only hold a [paint] brush with two fingers,” Grim said. “He was an inspiration to my grandfather. Side by side, Baum and Trego often painted together using the same scene.

“Baum and Trego each painted “Madonna and Child,”” Grim added. “My brother (John F. Grim) has the Trego, I have the Baum.”

In both paintings, Baum’s wife, Flora, is the model for the Madonna. Grim’s mother and Baum’s daughter is baby Jesus. Marion Grim was about six months old at the time.

As the event at QHS wound down, I thought about the impact of Walter Baum’s life. Kathleen O’Dea gave a nice summary.

“This day is important for two reasons,” O’Dea concluded. “First, art matters. Art is being promoted in the Quakertown schools. Second the Baum paintings pay homage to this area and the people who lived here.”

Be sure to visit the exhibits at the QHS senior high school. The Baum and community displays are right in front of the entrance doors at Seventh and Park Avenue in Quakertown. Andreijko noted that the education foundation needs a few thousand dollars to complete the project. You can make a tax deductible gift, made payable to the Quakertown Community Education Foundation and send it to the Superintendent’s Office, 100 Commerce Drive, Quakertown 18951. Please be generous.

Sincerely,

Charles Meredith