Pennsylvania landscape painting reached its zenith in the 1910s and 1920s with the work of a number of artists trained at the Pennsylvania Academy of Fine Arts who sought a romantic affinity with the picturesque streams and country roads of the eastern segment of the state. Taking his cue from such artists as Edward Redfield and W. Elmer Schofield, who fondly expressed the wintry landscape in many of their paintings, a younger artist, Walter Emerson Baum, joined his love of the land near his home in Sellersville with the then-current taste for impressionism transformed from an avant-garde style to one of established tradition. Persistent in his desire to embrace both the style and the technique of his mentors, by the end of his life Baum had left a legacy of accomplishment and experiment in his vast oeuvre of paintings of the Pennsylvania land. Baum's work and life have recently undergone scholarly investigation resulting in a broad inquiry into the artist's contribution to his Pennsylvania heritage. Art historian Martha Hutson-Saxton engages us in her extensive appraisal of the artist in her 1996 monograph, entitled Walter Emerson Baum, 1884-1956. Dr. Saxton's book is the first comprehensive approach to the subject which allows Baum's viewers to recognize the breadth of his accomplishments. Preparing her research to accompany a large exhibition at the Allentown Art Museum which assessed Baum's style and place in American Art, Saxton subsequently curated a show that would continue the dialog in his treatment of urban and rural subjects. The Lore Degenstein Gallery is privileged to exhibit this latter collection of Baum painting which was organized by the Philip and Muriel Berman Museum of Art at Ursinus College and contains work lent by the Philadelphia Museum of Art as well as by numerous private collectors, including a large collection of paintings owned by the Berman Museum. After Baum's death in 1956, Philip and Muriel Berman acquired roughly 1,500 paintings by various Pennsylvania artists from Flora Baum, the artist's wife. Baum's work of the early 1950s was included, which became the source for a large number of work appearing at the Berman museum. With more than 40 paintings, the museum maintains the largest institutional collection of Baum's work. What Baum provides in his large oil paintings is an historical record of the locale as well as his exploration of style. Working as an art columnist for the Philadelphia Evening Bulletin and later the Philadelphia Sunday Bulletin for over 30 years, Baum wrote hundreds of articles about art in the community. His reviews were mostly positive listings of as many exhibitions and artists as he could include. Baum's aim was always to support the artist and his milieu. He knew firsthand the difficulties in trying to survive on the sale of paintings. Clearly Baum's career as an artist and writer were only partially able to support his family of four children. To supplement his income, Baum taught art classes and eventually opened an art academy in Allentown that became known as "The Baum School." Springing from interest in the arts generated by Baum, the Allentown Art Museum was soon to be founded by his supporters. Little is discussed about Baum's direct relationships with the artists of the Pennsylvania Academy - Redefied, Schofield, and Garber - however, in addition to the stylistic directions in his work which reflect theirs, Baum also named his son, Edgar Schofield Baum. To date no correspondence between the two artists appears in either papers of Baum or Schofield, however, it will be sought in forthcoming Schofield research. It is an extraordinary opportunity for the Lore Degenstein Gallery to bring this exhibition to Susquehanna. We are appreciative of the efforts of Martha Hutson-Saxton and the director of the Berman Museum, Lisa Barnes, to share the exhibition with our audience. At its first venue, the exhibition was companioned by a one-day symposium in which scholars working on related research discussed their progress. Histories of Pennsylvania landscape painters from Baum's milieu continue to develop our understanding of the valuable contribution made by these artists.   Farm Near Haycock Mountain. Walter Emerson Baum. Oil on canvas. c. 1940. 30 x 40" Private Collection.