Through Bakke's eyes
Whitefish artist James Bakke, much like
his idol Vincent van Gogh, is largely unknown but still widely
talented.
Bakke’s extensive work includes
portraits of friends and family, paintings and drawings of his
cats, still life, and landscapes of the Flathead Valley and Glacier
National Park. At age 80, Bakke has spent seven decades taking
photos and then turning those photos into art.
It’s a lifetime of work that Donna
Hopkins couldn’t let pass by without recognition. Hopkins
interviewed Bakke and put together a collection of his work into a
recently published book, “James R. Bakke — Montana Artist, from the
Prairie to Whitefish to Glacier National Park.”
Hopkins, a Bakke family friend, knew
that his work needed to be viewed by others even if Bakke himself
had no interest in it.
“He is so much a part of Montana
history,” she said. “He is such an unknown treasure.”
Hopkins describes Bakke as somewhat of
a recluse. His health has declined in recent years, but he still
continues to work when possible.
“He promoted his work some in the ‘60s
and ‘70s,” she said. “He was not a person to get involved in the
business side of art. He was interested in painting.”
Bakke was born in 1931 and raised on
1,000 acres of wheatland near Gildford. The youngest of nine
children, Bakke was more interested in drawing pictures than
working cattle.
The book opens with a black and white
photo taken of the Bakke family at their manor house in Gildford in
1918. On the opposite page is Bakke’s oil painting based on that
photo and completed in 1990. The painting takes the photo and
brings it to life with color and feeling.
“The prairie was his home and his
love,” Hopkins said.
Bakke moved to Whitefish at age 16 and
finished high school before taking a job for the Great Northern
Railway. His first paycheck from the railroad allowed him to
purchase a camera and take oil painting lessons in the late 1940s.
This would begin his work featuring Whitefish, the railway and
Glacier Park. Bakke worked for Great Northern for 33 years.
Bakke would take the photos and then
later transform them — sometimes many years later — into paintings.
He worked with a variety of media including pencil, crayons, pastel
and oil.
Some of the Whitefish paintings are
based on photos taken along the railroad line. When he worked,
Bakke would always carry a camera with him.
“He took photos on his lunch hour,”
Hopkins said.
One painting shows a stream flowing
through a pasture with horses. The painting was completed in 1993
and depicts the Kauffman home on Wild Rose Lane.
Bakke took thousands of photos and
hiked hundreds of miles in Glacier.
“The Highline Trail is far and away the
best trail in Glacier, therefore on this planet,” he says in the
book. “I’m not sure about Mars or Venus, but definitely this
planet.”
Bakke sat down with the Whitefish Pilot
in 2004. He said that real painting is about meaning.
“I want my pictures to be something
that ordinary and working people can understand,” he said at the
time. “It’s history. And history is just disappearing in this
valley.”
Hopkins met Bakke in 1979 when she
moved to Whitefish to live with her grandmother, Elizabeth Luding
Hopkins. Hopkins and Bakke, along with her grandmother and his
mother Serena, would make trips into Glacier Park together. The
elder women would visit over coffee while Hopkins and Bakke hiked
trails.
“He liked to go into the Park and he
liked to paint,” Hopkins said.
When Hopkins retired to Whitefish in
2005 she reconnected with Bakke and began to discover the depth of
his work. She began to interview Bakke and track down owners of his
paintings — he never kept a record of the paintings or who
purchased them. She self-published the book.
Reproductions of Bakke’s work fill the
pages of the book. In addition to the interviews, Hopkins combed
through Bakke’s files and used his writings in the book. Often
Bakke write notes about a particular scene on the back of his
artwork.
“It’s a picture book, but I wanted to
tell his story through his pictures and paintings,” she said. “I
wanted to tell it in his own words. He’s a wonderful writer. I
wanted people to feel like they know him.”
The book is organized into four parts
focusing on the prairie and Bakke’s early life, Whitefish and the
railroad, Glacier National Park and portraits.
His work also includes drawings and
paintings of his 37 “aristocats.” Bakke started his cat family at
age five and his family brought two cats with them to Whitefish. At
one time he had as many as 27 cats. He has two remaining from the
original line, Louie VIII and Nicholas V.
“James R. Bakke — Montana Artist, from
the Prairie to Whitefish to Glacier National Park” is available in
Whitefish at Bookworks and the Stumptown Historical Society.
Book signings
Hopkins will hold several book signing
events in the valley. A few of Bakke’s original pieces never seen
in public will be on display at the Whitefish and Bigfork
events.
Hopkins will be at Grouse Mountain
Lodge in Whitefish Thursday, June 23 from 4:30 to 6:30 p.m. She
will hold a signing the following day, Friday, June 24 at the
Bigfork Museum of Art and History from 5 to 8 p.m. A third event
will be in Kalispell at the Hockaday Museum of Art’s annual Wine
Tasting Event on Thursday, July 7 from 5 to 8 p.m.