CAZENOVIA — This winter, the Cazenovia Public Library (CPL) is celebrating local watercolorist and art teacher Merrill A. Bailey (1909-1981) with an exhibition of his work and three special events.
Bailey, who was born in Cazenovia and called the area home for nearly his entire life, studied art at the Pratt Institute in Brooklyn and at Syracuse University. He was trained in the English school of watercolor painting, a technique that involves carefully layering transparent washes of color to allow the background paper and any previously applied paint to shine through.
The artist became known for his nostalgic depictions of the Cazenovia area.
“He and Dwight Williams, whom Bailey knew well, are the chief artistic chroniclers of the Cazenovia area,” said CPL Museum Committee member Jon Holstein, who helped organize the library’s exhibition of Bailey’s work. “[His] best-known works are perhaps the seven oil paintings he did for the walls of our Lincklaen House’s tavern. . . Bailey never joined the modernist artistic movements that occurred during his lifetime but preferred to continue the traditional techniques he had learned. In keeping with his style, his subject matter is often evocative of times past. Among my favorites are the watercolors he did while studying at Pratt, Brooklyn cityscapes rendered in often-sweeping, colorful strokes that caught the dynamic essence of that city.”
To achieve his signature aesthetic, Bailey developed several techniques; common elements of his paintings include winter trees with dry-brushed foliage, wet-on-wet dramatic skies, and human subjects engaged in outdoor activities like skating, fishing, walking, and hunting.
Committed to painting from life, Bailey captured many local scenes directly from his car, which served as his portable studio.
Over the course of his career, Bailey’s style matured and became more refined. In addition to using more delicate colors, he learned to effectively capture both the wind’s effect on trees and the stillness of winter.
Bailey is one of the few Central New York artists featured in The Encyclopedia of New York State.
His work appeared on the cover of Reader’s Digest, on the pages of LIFE and American Artist magazines, and in several watercolor books. His paintings of Cazenovia were featured on nationally distributed Christmas cards, as well as on French cards issued across Europe.
His works have also been shown in the Metropolitan, Brooklyn, and Toledo Museums and at the Art Institute of Chicago.
In addition to preserving the area’s landscapes and historic architecture through his paintings, Bailey served his community as a teacher and a coach. He taught at Cazenovia Junior College from 1933-1935 and at Cazenovia High School from 1935-1971, where he also coached football, baseball, and track.
Daniel Tennant, another accomplished local artist, studied under Bailey for all four years of high school. Following in his teacher’s footsteps, Tennant went on to study art at Syracuse University and to become a high school art teacher, instructing students at the Bainbridge-Guilford High School in Chenango County for 32 years.
CPL acquired a collection of Bailey’s works through a gift from his son Bruce Bailey.
An exhibit featuring a selection of these works is on display in the CPL Gallery through the month of February. The exhibit also includes a sketch of Bailey, done by former student Paul Fradenburg, which Bruce has loaned to the library for the show’s duration.
According to CPL Assistant Director/Archives Coordinator Elisha Davies, Bruce contacted the library in 2015 in search of a home for his father’s papers, sketches, studio remnants, and portfolio of unframed and framed work.
“Merrill loved Cazenovia and Bruce felt it was time for his archive to come home,” Davies said.
In 2019, Bruce made three trips to Cazenovia, transporting items his father had saved his whole life, including his own works and those of his students at Cazenovia High School.
“The items Bruce brought accounts for only half of what he plans to donate to the library,” said Davies. “A second donation includes many more unframed watercolors, papers, Bailey’s signature barnwood frames, and some framed paintings Bruce has cherished into adulthood. To put this show together, we looked through the unframed work that was included and, with the help of Jon Holstein, had them framed and matted.”
The exhibition features 15 pieces, dating from Bailey’s student days in Brooklyn to later works done in Cazenovia.
“One group of four works in the current exhibition shows his mature method from first sketch to [carefully] finished painting; others in the gift demonstrate his mature, traditional style,” said Holstein. “. . . We are fortunate that his son decided to give our library a major holding of his father’s work, art that will significantly enrich our common heritage.”
CPL’s Bailey project was sponsored by the Friends of the Library.
On Feb. 16 at 1 p.m., Cazenovia-based watercolor artist Meg Harris will present a “Merrill Bailey Watercolor Workshop” at the Carpenter’s Barn Community Art Hall.
First, Harris will lead participants in an exercise to understand Bailey’s style. Using sketches from the recently donated Bailey collection, participants will then try their hand at watercolors and put their own spins on a Bailey sketch.
On Feb. 22 at 11 a.m., CPL will invite young artists ages 8-12 to the library’s reference room for “Art for Kids: Merrill Bailey.”
Participants will learn about the work and legacy of the artist and then create their own watercolor paintings of a barn using a sketch that Bailey created for his own work.
Both programs are free and open to the public. Space is limited, so registration is required. Both events are supported by the Friends of the Library.
In early March (date TBD), CPL will partner with Carl Stearns of Caz Heritage to present “The Little Stone Schoolhouse,” an evening presentation on Bailey’s Erieville home and studio.
CPL is located at 100 Albany St. For more information on these or other events, call 315-655-9322 or visit cazenoviapubliclibrary.org.
