Memorable Manitobans: Marilyn Baker (c1950-2018)

Art historian.

She received a doctoral degree from the University of Wisconsin (Madison), having written a dissertation on American Modernism, then came to the University of Manitoba in 1973 to teach Art History at the School of Art. She introduced a course on “Women in Art”, one of the first of its kind in Canada, that continues to be taught.

Over the course of a long academic career, she delved into the history of Manitoba art and architecture, producing such foundational works as The Winnipeg School of Art: The Early Years (1984) and Symbol in Stone about the Manitoba Legislative Building (1986). She conducted extensive work on artist Lionel Lemoine FitzGerald and produced an exhibition entitled “FitzGerald in Context” for the School of Art Gallery and Winnipeg Art Gallery (2009). It is believed she was working on a monograph about FitzGerald at the time of her passing. She was also passionate about the study of art by women and she collaborated with Claudine Majzels in curating a show on Manitoba women artists for the Winnipeg Art Gallery (1995). Health issues prevented them from publishing a planned exhibition catalogue.

She died in Fall 2018, survived by her husband, psychologist Les Leventhal.

Her articles for the Manitoba Historical Society:

Remembrances of the Great War: The Next-of-Kin Monument in Winnipeg
Manitoba History, Number 2, 1981

Review: Angela Davis, Art and Work: A Social History of Labour in the Canadian Graphic Arts Industry to the 1940s
Manitoba History, Number 35, Spring/Summer 1998

Review: Gene Walz, Cartoon Charlie: The Life and Art of Animation Pioneer Charles Thorson
Manitoba History, Number 37, Spring/Summer 1999

Review: Catharine M. Mastin (editor), The Group of Seven in Western Canada. Essays by Catharine M. Mastin, Robert Stacey, Marcia Crosby, Liz Wylie, Anna Hudson, Ann Davis
Manitoba History, Number 45, Spring/Summer 2003

Review: Michael D. O’Brien, William Kurelek: Painter & Prophet
Manitoba History, Number 77, Winter 2015

Review Essay: Winnipeg Architecture Foundation Book Series
Manitoba History, Number 78, Summer 2015

Sources:

This page was prepared by Oliver Botar and Gordon Goldsborough.

Page revised: 13 April 2023

Memorable Manitobans

Memorable Manitobans

This is a collection of noteworthy Manitobans from the past, compiled by the Manitoba Historical Society. We acknowledge that the collection contains both reputable and disreputable people. All are worth remembering as a lesson to future generations.

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