A Look Inside
An unusual sensitivity to his subject is reflected in all of Bakke’s work. His love of nature and color jump out of every painting. His ability to capture the essence of people and animals is evident in all of his portraits.
The Way We Were
Family at Homestead in Gilford
48" X 24" Oil, 1990
Bakke Family Homestead
The Way it Was
36" X 28" Oil, mid 1970's
“From todayʼs vantage point, prairie farms in the ʼ30s and ʼ40s without electricity or running water seem like life of a few centuries ago rather than a few decades....
Not An Outhouse
16" X 20" Oil, 1975
“This painting was done in 1975 from a photo I took in the ʼ60s at the junkyard of my folks’ homestead. It depicts the remnants of the kerosene stove which had stood in the kitchen of our house for at least forty years. In the winter the big “Monarch” woodstove served not only to cook meals, but also kept that big kitchen toasty warm. As our home was a three-story manor house, the first floor was cool, even on the hottest of summer days, when it was 100 degrees in the shade—and there was no shade....
Lost in Reverie
St. Mary's Lake - Glacier ntl Park
30" X 25" Crayola, 1960's
“St. Mary’s Lake is so visually overpowering that it leaves many viewers with a true visceral experience of the glory of nature.” JB
To Vincent from James – The Sunflower
25" X 30" Oil, 2001
“This painting was done in 2001 from photos I took in my garden the previous summer. The sunflower, the ultimate symbol of summer, was a major motif in the work of Vincent van Gogh—one of the world’s all-time great artists. The combination of color and emotion in his work has never been matched in the century since....
Seceret Pasture
The Kauffman Home on Wild Rose Lane in Whitefish
48" X 24" Oil, 1993
“James is one of the good ones! And I can tell you the name of every horse in this painting.” Doc Kauffman
Courtesy of Dr. David V. Kauffman
Sunset for the Great Northern
Great Northern Railway, Whitefish
36" X 24" Oil, 1983
This painting was done in 1983 from photos in the mid-sixties. The setting is the railroad yard where I worked for thirty-three year directly in front of the car-inspector’s shack where I was employed in the official position of ‘Grand-Exalted-Laborer’! Car inspectors and laborers worked on freight trains and passenger lines when Whitefish was still a required inspection and servicing point for the Great Northern Railway. On the left is a covered ice wagon with metal frame and canvas sides which could be rolled up to load the 500 pound blocks of ice.....