Libby Bailey
Painter, Printmaker, Art Historian, Teacher
The Embarkation of Cleopatra, 2024
Oil on canvas, 72x54 inches
Available for Sale
Borthwick Castle in Scotland with Helen, George Sr., George Jr. and Libby Bailey with Ian McKenzie
Oil on canvas
72x48 inches
Collection of the Artist, Morganton GA
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Early Life
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I was born in Milledgeville, Georgia, raised in Columbus, Georgia, and attended the University of Georgia, where I was awarded the BFA, MFA, and PhD degrees in painting and art history. My first and greatest art teacher was my mother, Helen Bailey. My father, George Bailey, taught me the importance of hard work and perseverance. My brother, George, is a great supporter of my art and my sales representative.
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Putti Pleasures
Oil on Canvas
48x60 inches
Collection of Logan White, Brooklyn NY
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The University of Georgia
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I painted Putti Pleasures at the University of Georgia, where, as an undergraduate and graduate student I majored in drawing and painting. My major professor for both degrees was Professor James Herbert. I was influenced by my participation in the Studies Abroad Program in Cortona, Italy, founded and directed by Professor Jack Kehoe. I began my study of art history with Professor Alice Fischer. The floating shells in the painting are reminiscent of family vacations in Panama City, Florida. The background reveals my bourgeoning interest in Islamic architecture and design.
Saint Augustine Reading
Fresco on Wood
96x48 inches
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I painted Saint Augustine Reading as part of my coursework for my Ph.D. in art history. St. Augustine is portrayed by Professor Joseph Berrigan, who taught medieval and Renaissance intellectual history courses. My dissertation was entitled In the Shadow of Masaccio. My director was Professor Andrew Ladis.
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Libby Bailey with her exhibit at Wesleyan College. Macon, GA
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Wesleyan College
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I began teaching drawing, painting and art history at Wesleyan College in 1976. I taught part-time and full-time for 44 years. I specialized in teaching art history beginning in 1992 and developed the college's art history major. My paintings reveal my love of all periods and styles of art. I am grateful to all my former students and colleagues for their insights and support.
With President Ruth A. Knox, I instituted the Adopt a Painting Program for the purpose of preserving and displaying the College's great art collection.
In 2015 I received the Georgia Governor's Award for the the Arts and Humanities in recognition for my lifelong dedication to creating, teaching and preserving art.
Gravity in Art: Essays on Weight and Weightlessness in Sculpture, Painting and Photography, Jefferson, N.C. and London: McFarland, 2012
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As an art historian I wrote several articles, presented numerous conference papers and co-edited Gravity in Art. In the book are two of my articles: “Succumbing to Gravity in the Hortus Deliciarum of Herrad of Hohenbourg,” and “The Floating Book: A Reading of Saint Dominic’s Miraculous Book in Italian Art in the Late Thirteenth through the Early Fifteenth Centuries.” Other articles and papers concern the themes of the importance of minor masters in early 15th century Florence, personifications of humility and vanity, devotion and image in domestic and roadside tabernacles, tabernacle plans in manuscripts, and laude singing before street tabernacles in medieval and Renaissance art. Although I specialized in medieval and Renaissance art history, at Wesleyan I taught almost all periods of world art.
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Yuri and the Mystic Animals
Oil on Canvas
Collection of Louise Barfield, The Carnegie Inn, Macon GA
North Georgia
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I retired from Wesleyan in 2020 and live in North Georgia. Yuri and the Mystic Animals depicts a friend's beloved dog with many of the types of animals in the natural environment. I continue to create oil paintings and watercolors.