Gustave Baumann (June 27, 1881 – October 8, 1971) was an American

printmaker Printmaking is the process of creating work of art, artworks by printing, normally on paper, but also on fabric, wood, metal, and other surfaces. "Traditional printmaking" normally covers only the process of creating prints using a hand proce ...

and

painter Painting is the practice of applying paint, pigment, color or other medium to a solid surface (called the "matrix" or "support"). The medium is commonly applied to the base with a brush, but other implements, such as knives, sponges, and ai ...

, and one of the leading figures of the color woodcut revival in

America The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territorie ...

. His works have been shown at the New York Metropolitan Museum of Art, The Cleveland Museum of Art, the

National Gallery of Art The National Gallery of Art, and its attached Sculpture Garden, is a national art museum in Washington, D.C., United States, located on the National Mall, between 3rd and 9th Streets, at Constitution Avenue NW. Open to the public and free of char ...

in Washington DC, and the New Mexico Museum of Art. He is also recognized for his role in the 1930s as area coordinator of the Public Works of Art Project of the Works Progress Administration.

Biography

Gustave Baumann was born in Magdeburg, Germany, and moved to the United States in 1891 with his family. By age 17 he was working for an engraving house while attending night classes at the

Art Institute of Chicago The Art Institute of Chicago in Chicago's Grant Park, founded in 1879, is one of the oldest and largest art museums in the world. Recognized for its curatorial efforts and popularity among visitors, the museum hosts approximately 1.5 mill ...

. He returned to Germany in 1904 to attend the Kunstgewerbeschule in Munich where he studied wood carving and learned the techniques of wood block prints. After returning to the United States, he began producing color woodcuts as early as 1908, earning his living as a graphic artist. He spent time in Brown County, Indiana as a member of the Brown County Art Colony, developing his printmaking technique. He followed the traditional European method of color relief printing using oil-based inks and printing his blocks on a small press. This contrasted with the trend at the time of many American artists to employ hand rubbed woodblock prints in the Japanese traditional style. By this time he had developed his personal artist's seal: the opened palm of a hand on a heart. His Mill Pond is the largest color woodcut produced at the time. These were shown at the 1915 Panama–Pacific International Exposition where Baumann won the gold medal for color woodcut. Gustave Baumann House, Santa Fe NM

In 1918, he headed to the Southwest to inquire into the artists' colony of Taos, New Mexico. Thinking it too crowded and too social, he boarded the train which stopped in Santa Fe. Its art museum had opened the previous year and its curator, Paul Water, persuaded Baumann to stay in Santa Fe. In Santa Fe, Baumann befriended many local artists and took part in various community celebrations. He made the head of the first Zozobra and carved and performed with marionettes. He was a member of the Society of American Graphic Artists and the

Taos Society of Artists The Taos Society of Artists was an organization of visual arts founded in Taos, New Mexico. Established in 1915, it was disbanded in 1927. The Society was essentially a commercial cooperative, as opposed to a stylistic collective, and its foundation ...

. Baumann married Jane Devereaux Henderson on June 25, 1925. Their daughter, Ann, was born on July 31, 1927. He remained in Santa Fe for more than fifty years until his death there in 1971.

Artwork

In addition to his popular color woodcuts, Baumann also made oil paintings and furniture. His work depicted southwestern landscapes, ancient Indian

petroglyph A petroglyph is an image created by removing part of a rock surface by incising, picking, carving, or abrading, as a form of rock art. Outside North America, scholars often use terms such as "carving", "engraving", or other descriptions ...

s, scenes of pueblo life, and gardens and orchards. File:'Apple Blossom', wood block print by Gustave Baumann.JPG, ''Apple Blossom,'' wood block print, 1917 File:'Aspen Red River' by Gustave Baumann, New Mexico Museum of Art.JPG, ''Aspen Red River,'' 1924 File:Summer Clouds by Gustave Baumann, 1925, color woodcut.jpg, ''Summer Clouds,'' 1925, color woodcut File:Rain in the Mountains by Gustave Baumann, 1926, color woodcut.png, ''Rain in the Mountains,'' 1926, color woodcut

Prints

Refer to Gala Chamberlain's book ''In A Modern Rendering: The Color Woodcuts of Gustave Baumann: A Catalog Raisonne'' (2019) to see an array of works completed by Gustave Baumann during his lifetime. This book documents over 429 distinct images. Highlights include: * ''In the Hills o' Brown'' (1910) :Twelve prints depicting views of Nashville, Indiana, as well as interior scenes. Includes ''The Blacksmith Shop'', ''The Print Shop'', ''The Town of Nashville'', ''The Wagon Shop'', ''In the Hills o' Brown'', ''The Rug Weaver'', ''The Courthouse Yard'', ''An Evening Chat'', ''Clinching the Argument'', ''The Suspension Bridge'', ''The Door Yards'', and ''Mathis Alley''. * ''New Mexico Portfolio'' (1924) :Comprises ''Cliff Dwellings'', ''Sanctuario – Chimayo'', ''My Garden'', Talaya Peake, ''The Bishop's Apricot'', ''Chile con Cabre'', ''Night at the Fiesta – Taos'', ''Talpa Chapel'', ''Corn Dance – Santa Clara'', ''Lost in the Desert'', ''San Geronimo – Taos'', ''Beginning of the Fiesta'', and ''San Domingo Pueblo''. * Five views of the Grand Canyon: ''Bright Angel Trail'' (1921), ''Pines, Grand Canyon'' (1921), ''Pinon, Grand Canyon'' (1921), ''Cedar, Grand Canyon'' (1921), and ''Grand Canyon'' (c. 1927–1930). * Four Southern Arizona views (1924): ''Palo Verde and Ocotea'', ''Cholla and Sahuaro'', ''Superstition Mountain'', and ''Wild Horse Mesa''. * Mid-1920s views of the Pacific coast: ''Pelican Rookery'', ''Redwood'', ''Sequoia Forest'', ''Coast Range'', ''Singing Woods'', ''Windswept Eucalyptus'', ''Redwood Muir Woods'', ''Point Lobos'', ''Point Lobos Rock Garden'', ''Monterey Cypress'', and ''Song of the Sea''.

Illustrated books

* ''All the Year Round'' (1912, text by James Whitcomb Riley), 12 electroplate illustrations by Gustave Baumann * ''Pirates! Or, The Cruise of the Black Revenge: A Melodrama in Thirteen Acts'' (1916), published by Brothers of the Book, text by Kendall Banning and 13 original woodcut illustrations by Gustave Baumann. Printing was limited to 525 copies. * ''Pirates! Or, The Cruise of the Black Revenge'', (1918) Text by Kendall Banning and 13 photoengraved illustrations by Gustave Baumann. This edition was reduced to 2/3 size of the original 1916 printing. * ''Indian Pottery Old and New'' (1919). text and woodcut illustrations by Gustave Baumann. Printing was limited to 50 copies of which only a handful were completed. * ''Chips an' Shavings'' (1929), woodcut text and 3 photoengraved illustrations by Gustave Baumann. Printing was limited to 100 copies. * ''Frijoles Canyon Pictographs'' (1939), text and 25 woodcut illustrations by Gustave Baumann. Printing was limited to 480 copies * ''Indian Pottery Old and New'' (2020). text and woodcut illustrations by Gustave Baumann. Printing was limited to 145 copies. Produced by the Press At the Palace of the Governors using Gustave Baumanns original woodblocks.

Museum collections

Baumann's work is held in the permanent collections of the

Akron Art Museum The Akron Art Museum is an art museum in Akron, Ohio, United States. The museum first opened on February 1, 1922, as the Akron Art Institute. It was located in two borrowed rooms in the basement of the public library. The Institute offered clas ...

, Indianapolis Museum of Art New Mexico Museum of Art, Stark Museum of Art, among other venues.

References

Citations

Works cited

External links

*
Gustave Baumann Biography
at the Annex Galleries {{DEFAULTSORT:Baumann, Gustave 1881 births 1971 deaths 20th-century American painters 20th-century American printmakers American male painters Artists from Indiana Artists from Santa Fe, New Mexico Federal Art Project artists German emigrants to the United States Taos Society of Artists 20th-century American male artists