Edutainment > Cyrus Baldridge 1889-1975

North Gate Peking
by Cyrus Baldridge
copyright Cyrus Baldridge

Cyrus Leroy Baldridge was an American illustrator, painter, printmaker and cosmopolitan. In the 1920s he had travelled widely in the East, North Africa and Europe. For collectors of Japanese prints he became known as the artist of several woodblock prints published by Watanabe in 1925 with colorful scenes from Peking.

Cyrus Leroy Baldridge - The Boy from NY

Cyrus Leroy Baldridge was born in Alton, New York. He had received art training from his childhood on and studied English literature at the University of Chicago. After graduating from University, he worked as a war illustrator with the US forces in France during World War I.

The World Traveler

During the 1920s Baldrige Cyrus went on a world trip together with his wife Caroline Singer. He saw Japan, China, Korea, Afghanistan, Persia and Africa. In 1925 he was in Peking where several of his art works depicting town scenes and famous landmarks were created. They were published by Watanabe in Tokyo as woodblock prints.

Settling Down in the South

After 1932 Baldridge Cyrus lived most of the time in the United States working as a book illustrator, painter and printmaker. He was especially attracted by the landscapes of the South West. In 1952 he settled permanently in Santa Fe in New Mexico and spent the rest of his life painting landscapes and scenes from New Mexico.

Baldridge Cyrus often used strong colors for his art works and large flat areas - an influence from his years in Japan.

Literature source used for this Cyrus Baldridge biography:

• Amy Reigle Stephens, "The New Wave - Twentieth Century Japanese Prints from the Robert O. Muller Collection", Bamboo Publishing Ltd. London and Hotei - Japanese Prints, Leiden, ISBN 1-870076-19-2

Dieter Wanczura
(August 2002)

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