Born in Sellerville, Pennsylvania, Walter Baum became well known for his landscapes of Bucks County and the Lehigh Valley.

Baum studied with artist William Trego and then at the Pennsylvania Academy at a time when its instructors included Thomas Anschutz, William Merritt Chase and Cecilia Beaux. Baum gradually adopted an impressionist manner and, like his New Hope colleagues Edward Redfield and Walter Schofield, preferred to paint en plein air. He specialized in seasonal renditions and, particularly, in winter scenes.

He exhibited at the Pennsylvania Academy throughout his life and, in 1925, received the Jenny Sesnan Gold Medal for best landscape in the Academy’s annual exhibit.

Baum led a multi-faceted artistic life. In addition to painting and exhibiting, he was Director of the Allentown Museum, founded his own art school, and served for some time as art critic for the Philadelphia Bulletin. With the ascendency of the New Hope School in recent decades, Baum has received much critical attention. His work can be found in collections of the Philadelphia Museum, the Pennsylvania Academy, the National Academy of Design, and the Toledo Art Museum, among others.