Elisha Taylor Baker (February 17, 1827 – August 21, 1890) was an American

marine art Marine art or maritime art is a form of figurative art (that is, painting, drawing, printmaking and sculpture) that portrays or draws its main inspiration from the sea. Maritime painting is a genre that depicts ships and the sea—a genre parti ...

ist from

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the most densely populated major city in the Un ...

. He was a ship

portraitist A portrait is a painting, photograph, sculpture, or other artistic representation of a person, in which the face and its expressions are predominant. The intent is to display the likeness, personality, and even the mood of the person. For this re ...

, luminist and landscape painter. Baker painted full-rigged

ship A ship is a large watercraft that travels the world's oceans and other sufficiently deep waterways, carrying cargo or passengers, or in support of specialized missions, such as defense, research, and fishing. Ships are generally distinguished ...

yacht A yacht is a sailing or power vessel used for pleasure, cruising, or racing. There is no standard definition, though the term generally applies to vessels with a cabin intended for overnight use. To be termed a , as opposed to a , such a pleasu ...

s, steamboats and schooners. His works are in the art collections of the

New Bedford Whaling Museum The New Bedford Whaling Museum is a museum in New Bedford, Massachusetts, United States that focuses on the history, science, art, and culture of the international whaling industry, and the "Old Dartmouth" region (now the city of New Bedford and ...

, the Mariners' Museum and Park, and the

Mystic Seaport Mystic Seaport Museum or Mystic Seaport: The Museum of America and the Sea in Mystic, Connecticut is the largest maritime museum in the United States. It is notable for its collection of sailing ships and boats and for the re-creation of the cra ...

Museum.

Early life

Baker was born in

on February 17, 1827. He is the first child of Elisha Avery Baker (1802-1859) and Laura Taylor (1806-1986). In 1832, the family moved to

Colchester, Connecticut Colchester is a town in New London County, Connecticut, United States. The population was 15,555 at the 2020 census. In 2010 Colchester became the first town in Connecticut, and the 36th in the country, to be certified with the National Wildli ...

, to establish a retail fish business. By 1848, he was part owner of a 77-ton schooner ''Elisha A. Baker''. On March 10, 1851, he married Adelaide Brigg in

Hebron, Connecticut Hebron is a town in Tolland County, Connecticut, United States. The population was 9,098 at the 2020 census. Hebron was incorporated May 26, 1708. In 2010, Hebron was rated #6 in Top Towns in Connecticut with population between 6,500 and 10,000, ...

. They had no children.

Early career

Baker spent some time at sea in 1851. He worked in New York City as a marine painter from 1868-1880. He traveled around

New England New England is a region comprising six states in the Northeastern United States: Connecticut, Maine, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, Rhode Island, and Vermont. It is bordered by the state of New York (state), New York to the west and by the Can ...

painting full-rigged ships, yachts, steamboats and coasting schooners. He painted some landscapes and marine artwork. One of his paintings is a

John Jacob Astor IV John Jacob Astor IV (July 13, 1864 – April 15, 1912) was an American business magnate, real estate developer, investor, writer, lieutenant colonel in the Spanish–American War, and a prominent member of the Astor family. He died in the sink ...

steam yacht ''Nourmahal'' (ca. 1884) off Cowes. A business card listed him as: "Elisha T. Baker, Marine Painter, 315 Pearl & 104 South Sts., N.Y." Baker had two art styles of marine painting. One as a ship

and the other as a luminist. He experimented with marine subjects at sunset, moonlight or in the fog. The Long Island Sound steamboat ''Elm City'' is an example of this work. He signed his paintings in various ways: "E. T. Baker", "E. Taylor Baker" "E. T. B." or "Baker". To date, a total of 24 of his paintings exist. 11 additional paintings have characteristics of his work but are unsigned. Some are unsigned because the artist painted from the shore depicting pilot boats as they came in and out of New York harbor. A surviving circa 1875 cloth-bound sketchbook exists with 34 pages with C. & R. Poillon's shipyard, Coney Island, landscapes,

battlement A battlement in defensive architecture, such as that of city walls or castles, comprises a parapet (i.e., a defensive low wall between chest-height and head-height), in which gaps or indentations, which are often rectangular, occur at interv ...

towers, sloop at

Sheepshead Bay Sheepshead, Sheephead, or Sheep's Head, may refer to: Fish * ''Archosargus probatocephalus'', a medium-sized saltwater fish of the Atlantic Ocean * Freshwater drum, ''Aplodinotus grunniens'', a medium-sized freshwater fish of North and Central Am ...

, ice barge,

Navesink Highlands The Navesink Highlands, sometimes referred to as the Highlands of Navesink and also known as the Atlantic Highlands, is a range of low hills and upland areas located along the United States Atlantic coast in New Jersey. The hills of the Highlands r ...

, Plumb Island, Saybrook, fishing nets drying, harbors, Brooklyn Bridge tower unfinished,

cityscape In the visual arts, a cityscape (urban landscape) is an artistic representation, such as a painting, drawing, Publishing, print or photograph, of the physical aspects of a city or urban area. It is the urban equivalent of a landscape. ''Town ...

s with color notations, etc. His works are in the collections of the

, the Mariners' Museum and Park, and the

Museum.

Death

Baker died, at age 63, on August 21, 1890, in Orange, Connecticut. He was buried at the Linwood Cemetery in

, on August 30.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Baker, Elisha Taylor 19th-century American painters American male painters American marine artists American portrait painters Luminism (American art style) 1827 births 1890 deaths 19th-century American male artists