In his Carmel, N.Y. studio one winter morning in 1939, a harried artist packed a portrait into his station wagon and headed for Manhattan. As the car slithered down the slippery lane, one of the doors jounced open and snagged a roadside pine. The door was left behind dangling on the tree as the car sped on.
Thus did Ernest Hamlin Baker hurry to deliver his first TIME cover portrait: Poland's Statesman-Pianist Ignace Jan Paderewski (TIME, Feb. 27, 1939). Artist Baker, who had done some previous work for FORTUNE, had been given just 48...
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