Thursday, March 30, 2017

Dudie Baird, Model

Julia "Dudie" Baird (1872-1932) was a leading artists' model in the 1890s and probably for a while longer. This according to several sources I found on the internet. What is lacking is biographical information about her as well as a comprehensive listing of artworks for which she posed.

Her most famous image is that of the body of the statue of the goddess Diana by Augustus Saint-Gaudens. A biographical snippet related to that is here.

As this link mentions, she posed for Thomas Wilmer Dewing. She also posed once for Dennis Miller Bunker.

If readers know of other paintings or sculptures based on Dudie, please let us know in a comment.

Gallery

Diana as seen in the Philadelphia Museum of Art

Portrait in Blue - 1896
This and all but one of the paintings below are by Dewing.

Julia Baird photo

Portrait of a Young Girl - 1888

Portrait of a Lady - 1898

Brocart de Venise - c.1904
Based on facial features, my guess is that this painting and the one above it feature Dudie.

The Mirror - 1890
This was by Dennis Miller Bunker.

3 comments:

  1. After reading this I looked closely at a pair of bronzes by Harriet Frismuth at the David Owsley Museum here and it looks like Dodie to me. Particularly the profile. (have images)/Users/steve/Desktop/Frismuth/1995.035.159-02_detail.jpg/Users/steve/Desktop/Frismuth/1995.035.160-01_detail.jpg

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  2. Julia Baird was my grandmother's aunt. My grandmother was Dorothy Baird, later Dorothy Gallagher and then Dorothy Lisiecki. Love hearing stories about her. "Dudie" was a legend in the family.

    andrea@andreagaines.com

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    1. My grandfather was Harry Baird your grandmothers brother(?) I recall Dorothy's name, cousins to Kathryn, Mary, Louise and William. I remember Aunt Grace and Ruth. Dudie was a woman before her time...

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