Biography

It has not been possible to put together a verifiable history of Nixford Baldwin's life from online sources alone, but it's possible to surmise a plausible, if very tragic, scenario. Baldwin was born in Italy in 1889 and named Nicola Ballerini. His family must have emigrated to Springfield, Massachusetts during his childhood, or he did so as a young adult. He served in the United States Army as a Private. It's unclear what he did immediately after World War I, but there are a number of etchings and paintings of his that date from the mid-1930s, and his phenomenal mural in the Fayetteville, West Virginia Post Office was painted in 1939. It's unclear how he was employed after this time, but in old age he became a fixture on the streets of Worcester, Massachusetts, where he was seen peddling street art and selling balloons. Children and adults of Worcester dubbed him the "The Balloon Man", apparently unaware of his deep artistic ability. He did continue to paint, since after his death, when his apartment was cleaned out, many works of art were discovered. These were exhibited in Worcester after his death.

Critical Analysis

Baldwin's Fayetteville mural "The Miners" captures in an eloquent way the many facets of the mining industry -- how it originated from lone prospectors, how it came to employ a broad range of people from across the mining communities, how it extracted the toil of generations of workers, and how it daily endangered the miners and the structure of their families. Artistically, this mural is a solid achievement, and sociologically it goes far beyond what was typical of Post Office art in the 1930s and 1940s. Details of the Fayetteville mural show a definite talent for portraiture. And his drawings and etchings from the 1930s show that he was a master draftsman. His work was recognized with prizes from the Springfield Art League and the Stockbridge Art Association. But the fact that Nixford's genius was to go more or less unappreciated after these critical successes is a tragedy. And it is a travesty that the people of Worcester never recognized the artistic genius in their midst.

Murals

• Fayetteville, West Virginia - Post Office: The Miners

References

1. Aged Chemist, Thomas A. Edison (the Gibbes museum of art).
2. The Balloon Man (A Worcester Memory) (Worcester Store).
3. Museum Musings, Newspeak Volume 12, Issue 07, April 3 (1984).
4. Nixford Baldwin (20th century) (ask ART).