Maplewood History: James Baare Turnbull – Internationally Known Artist Extraordinaire!!! Part Four

Another Trove Comes To Light!

It has taken two years before the fourth part of Mr. Turnbull’s story arrived but what a story it is!  We have the internet to thank for allowing connections like these to occur.

Recently I was contacted by a family descendant of Peter Keep’s, who you may remember was the wife of Jim Turnbull.  It goes like this.  Peter Keep was the sister of my contact’s husband’s grandmother, his great aunt.  What Jim and Peter left behind has come down to this family.  Jim and Peter had no children.

That said, what they left behind is amazing. There are many photographs, documents and artwork that the family has generously agreed to share with us.  Perhaps you have wondered as I have, how the wife came to be called Peter?  Let’s clear that up first since you can’t possibly guess.

This wonderful image is labeled “Pete Turnbull.”  Pete’s descendant’s retain all rights to these images.  I won’t publish their identity until I’m certain of how they want it handled.

This clears up part of the mystery of her unusual name.  Her first name was Edna but she apparently preferred her middle one.  Interesting to note she was born in Jacksonville, Florida at the end of 1908.

James Baare Turnbull.  I can’t decipher the patch on his shoulder but the anchors must mean Navy. (Reader John Sutton , I’m not kidding, says the shoulder patch is Navy Correspondent)

Wow!  He was an accredited war correspondent representing Life magazine headed to Trinidad.  Ha had to wear the same uniform as an officer.  I don’t know if he ever made it to Trinidad but he did to the Phillipines. Click on this sentence for Part Three which displays images of some of the paintings he made while he was there including one that depicts Lingayen Beach which is the spot where American General Douglas MacArthur landed in 1945 during World War II.

Looks like he got the uniform.

Jim was born in St. Louis.  He was about 10 months younger than his wife, Pete.  His middle name had been his mother’s maiden name.

If you would reread Part One of this series, you’ll find that part of the earliest information that set me off on this trail, was about the sculptor, Peter Keep.  Turns out she really was one.  And, judging from this photograph, a very good one.

Since Jim and Pete had their studio in Maplewood until 1940, I asked my family contact to send me images of any of the paintings that might have been made of subjects around Maplewood or done before 1940 which would mean they may have been painted here.  Here is what has been sent so far.  They are all watercolors.

This one is called “Train Crossing”.  1940  Price: $1500.00

“Row Houses”  1937.

“Yellow House/ Blue Sky”   1941.

“Evening Stroll”   1945.

“House and Church   Curved Road”   No date.

“Feeding Time    ???????Children   Eating Bread and Meat”   1937

Jim and Peter’s second floor studio at 2737A Sutton was in this building that had once housed our first city hall.  I don’t know when they first rented the space.  They left for New York in 1940.

This photograph was made in 2008.  The building has survived well today.

Deputy Mayor Karen Wood opens for Governor Matt Blunt in 2006.  Present Mayor Barry Greenberg is on the left.  Longtime city manager Marty Corcoran is just left of the governor.

It seems sad to me that the memory of two artists of the caliber of Jim and Pete Turnbull had been completely lost.  We shouldn’t let that happen again.  I’d like to see historic markers of some sort in front of this building and many of our other important sites and buildings.  A marker could be a plaque in the sidewalk like our Route 66 series or it could be on a post like the one I have imagined in this next image.

Well, this particular one might be a headache for some of the athletes but you get the idea.  I especially like these ones that display historic photographs.  Some nice examples can be seen in Forest Park.

Finally, the weather has taken a turn that makes it possible for a human being to enjoy the outdoors again.  63 degrees today.  Warmer weather is just ahead!

Doug Houser     February 10, 2026

Thanks to Sherman Shewmaker for the following article.  The original was blurry so I typed it out.

An Obituary of James Baare Turnbull

From the Kingston Daily Freeman – 14 December 1976 – Page 5

James Turnbull Dies, Was Woodstock Artist

Woodstock – James B. Turnbull, prominent Woodstock artist, died Friday at Memorial Hospital in Jacksonville, Florida.

Mr. Turnbull’s murals, paintings, and wire sculptures are included in private collections and galleries across the country.  He was a combat artist for the army in World War II and he saw duty in numerous areas including the south Pacific.

In the late 1940’s, Mr. Turnbull and his widow, Peter Keep Turnbull, settled in Woodstock.  He was a member of the Woodstock Artists Association and his work was represented by Rudolph Galleries in Woodstock and in Coral Gables, Florida.  His work  is in the permanent collection of the Whitney Museum in New York, the Springfield (Mass.) Museum, the University of Arizona, the Peabody Art Gallery and the Walker Art center in Minneapolis.

Born in St. Louis, Mr. Turnbull attended the Missouri Military Academy, the University of Missouri and Washington University in St. Louis.  He later studied at the St. Louis School of Fine Arts and at the Pennsylvania Academy of Art in Philadelphia.

In 1938, Mr. Turnbull was the director of the Works Progress Administration”s art project in Missouri.  Mr. Turnbull is survived by his widow.