THE ART OF ALICE BABER

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The Art of Alice Baber

Shaykayla A. Smith
Taylorsville High School

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Abstract
I researched the artist Alice Baber for my artist. The essay consists of reasoning as well as
information and background on Alice Babers career. To gather information, I used three trusted
references. The references I used gave me enough information to extend my knowledge and
place an honest opinion on the artist and her work. The first paragraph contains her early life
experiences with art to growing up and being successful in her career of creating oil and
watercolor canvases. Transitioning from her personal life and experiences, I broadened the topic
of her work having a tremendous impact on artists across the globe. Not only did Baber show
talent, but she showed power and persistence as well. It is fair to say that art isnt a simple
practice; art is an undermined talent full of beauty. I believe that Babers artwork is a prime
example of inspiring due to her work ethic and passion for pursuing a higher purpose with her
art. In ending my essay, I picked a favorite art piece created by Baber. By critiquing the piece, I
noticed the fine details that have hidden messages and meanings. Baber shows complete artistic
ability in every aspect of her work and my favorite piece of hers shines the pursuit of happiness.

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Shaykayla Smith
Art 1020
Professor Ward
May 17, 2016
The Art of Alice Baber
The American famous painter, Alice Baber, began with her interest in art at the age of
eight. Baber was born in Charleston, Illinois and grew up in Kansas, Illinois and Miami, Florida.
By the age of twelve, she enrolled in a college-level class for drawing due to her advanced ability
in art. She chose to study at Lindenwood College for Women in Missouri and spend two years
there before transferring to Indiana University. After receiving her Master of Arts in 1951s she
began her career by traveling to Europe. She studied at the Ecole des Beaux Arts in
Fontainebleau, France and lived in Paris throughout the late fifties and sixties. (North American
Women Artists of the Twentieth Century, 1995) When living in Paris, she made a living through
her writing and being an art editor of McCalls magazine. When becoming serious with her
career, she later became a member of the March Gallery on Tenth Street in New York City in
1958. The same year, she granted a studio residency at the Yaddo Art Colony. During this time,
she began to develop her own style to light and form of the circle. In 1959, she showed her
paintings throughout Europe with her first piece Jeune Biennale" in France. She began to live
back in forth from America to France. When beginning her career, she primarily worked in oils,
and later began to experiment with watercolor paints in the late 1950s. She transitioned into
focusing on abstracted works and expression. With a combination of oil and watercolor, she
began to focus on color and form with shapes. Baber is famously known for her use of light and

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color in each theme. Babers work revolves around the abstract shapes and stained canvases
filled with vivid colors. Her work is mainly on multiple round or ovoid shapes. Her pieces are in
the museum collections around the world. Later in life, Baber suffered from Cancer. Although
Baber suffered from pain, she continued to paint. She passed away from Cancer in 1982.
In this, her impact on the world of art was a major one. With many battles, Baber also
fought to be noticed as a women artist. Baber struggled to gain prominence in international art
world due to gender bias. Her art reflected the idea of stylish trends, which imbued with
movement and bold colors. Babers legacy is honored at the Baber Midwest Modern Art
Collection of the Greater Lafayette Museum of Art in Indiana, and the Alice Baber Memorial Art
Library in East Hampton, Long Island, New York. (North American Women Artists of the
Twentieth Century, 1995) American major galleries that her work is displayed are at the
Guggenheim, Whitney, Metropolitan, and the Museum of Modern Art. In addition, her work is
collected by private university collections. Her work was known not only for her simplicity of
shapes but also for her stance for women to be recognized in art. Baber's work was placed in
many women-only exhibitions. She was known to stand up as a woman activist and participated
in many woman rights events throughout the 1970's. (U.S. Department of State-Art in
Embassies) Baber was a hardworking artist and traveled the world to be recognized, which was
difficult to do at the time. Most of Babers art was shown in museums that were in favor of the
women act. In this time, it was hard to be recognized as a women artist and Baber changed the
stereotype in art. She was an artist that went against the traditional ways and created a more
modern approach. I think that Baber was mostly recognized for her powerful presence and less
for her work. Although her work was full of color and was much different from the art of the
time, it was still underappreciated. I strongly believe that her art was advanced and varied in

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style from her time. If Baber was still alive, she would see that her style of art is very similar to
the generation now of simple and bold watercolor canvases.
Finally, I am placing my opinion with valid reasoning on why Alice Babers talent
shouldnt be unnoticed. A piece created from Alice Baber is an oil canvas created in 1968 called
Through Sleep To Orange. This piece caught my attention from all her work due to whole use
of all her canvas, as well as creating an intrepid modern feel. All of her pieces intrigued me,
which gave me a difficult time to choose one. However, this piece from the rest of her work has
blue hues with various amounts of color in the middle. The shapes being primarily oval or circle
creates an eccentric pattern that I haven't seen from other artists. I like how this piece is
powerful, as well as simple. There is much emphasis on the unity and balance with her colors by
the soft undertones. When critiquing this image, I noticed that there was depth in lines that she
created on the outside of her piece. Towards the middle of her image, the circles become softer
and aren't outline. The movement seems to focus on the color in the middle of the image,
therefore, create an illusion that the color was further. I mostly think that this art piece was
appealing to me from the mood it created for me. The colors and shapes brought a lot of
joyfulness and reminded me a lot of my childhood. Id say that this image somewhat expressed
my personality. To have this placed in my home would remind me to stay happy and positive.
Since I can always stress and create my own busy schedule, this image gives me a sense of
direction to calm down and find the beauty in simplicity. What makes me enjoy this piece, even
more, is it was created when Baber and her husband was traveling the world making art together.
I think the history of this piece shows the feeling that she had with she was with him, as well as
her perspective on the world. Babers Through Sleep To Orange was an inspiring piece in the
sense of bringing color into the world as a recognized beauty. The use of the watercolor

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technique with this image embedded a gentle touch to a powerful figure. I believe this piece
shows art in a form that should be noticed more and is under minded only because society
expects traditional paintings. Baber's work is cultivating and alters the feelings within us. That is
art.

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(Through Sleep to Orange, 1986)

References
North American Women Artists of the Twentieth Century. (n.d.). Retrieved May 17, 2016, from
https://books.google.com/books?id=ReZkAgAAQBAJ
Through Sleep to Orange - Baber Alice. (n.d.). Retrieved May 18, 2016, from
http://www.wikiart.org/en/alice-baber/through-sleep-to-orange-1968
U.S. Department of State - Art in Embassies. (n.d.). Retrieved May 17, 2016, from
http://art.state.gov/artistdetail.aspx?id=103444

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