The Woodcuts of Gustave Baumann

Gustave Baumann
"The Loma"
Color Woodcut Print
9 1/2 x 11 1/4 inches
SOLD

Gustave Baumann - Biography

One of America's finest color woodcut artists, Gustave Baumann is widely credited with the revival of this art form in the 20^th century. His prints, made from multiple intricately detailed hand-carved woodcuts, are best known for their vivid coloration, striking color contrasts, bright, bold designs, and expert craftsmanship. Many of the works feature his characteristic framing device of tiny dots that serve as a border for the image. Born in Magdeburg, Germany in 1881, Baumann and his family relocated to the United States when he was a child. They eventually settled in Chicago, where he later worked as a commercial engraver while putting himself through night school at the Art Institute of Chicago. He traveled to Germany in 1904 to study wood block printing at the Kunstgewerbeschule ("School of Arts and Crafts") in Munich.

Upon his return to the United States, Baumann received international acclaim when one of his color woodcuts won the gold medal at the 1915 Pan-Pacific International Exhibition in San Francisco.

Color Woodcuts

“The Loma”, (“The Hill” or “The Knoll”), above, is set in Taos, New Mexico, and was printed in 1919. Baumann was perpetually inspired and moved by the area's quiet, secluded, natural beauty, and felt in harmony with nature and the native peoples there. This woodcut is one of the first prints he executed when he settled in Santa Fe in 1918, and he quickly emerged as a leading artistic figure of the American Southwest.

Gustave Baumann
"Church, Ranchos de Taos"
Color Woodcut Print
9 1/2 x 11 1/4 inches
SOLD

“Church, Ranchos de Taos”, printed ca. 1918-19 is also set in the same area of New Mexico, and shows the historic adobe church of San Francisco de Asis, begun around 1772 and completed in 1816. It has been the subject of countless works of art over the past two centuries, and the artist chose the view of the rear exterior of the church with a procession of parishioners at the lower left.

Gustave Baumann
"Harden Hallow"
Color Woodcut Print
9 x 11 inches

SOLD

“Harden Hollow” is the name of a valley situated west of Nashville, Indiana, in Brown County, where the artist lived from 1909 to 1917. This  second edition of “Harden Hollow” was printed in five colors from five intricately detailed hand-carved woodblocks on cream Zanders laid paper. This work displays the artist's love for vivid coloration, striking color contrasts, bright, and bold designs, and also highlights the expert craftsmanship that made him so widely admired. This color woodcut includes the artist's iconic “hand-in-heart” chop which recalls his saying “What you put your hand to, you put your heart behind”.

Gustave Baumann
"Ridge Road"
Color Woodcut Print
11 x 9 3/4 inches
SOLD

“Ridge Road”, shown above, is a tranquil, peaceful scene with a slightly softer palette and muted colors in pale pinks and blues. This early print is held in the permanent collections of both the Metropolitan Museum of Art and the Chicago Art Institute.

Gustave Baumann
"Marigolds aka Sunny Messengers"
Color Woodcut Print
11 x 9 3/4 inches
SOLD

Our final work, “Marigolds”, also known as “Sunny Messengers”, in an octagonal format, is the artist's first floral color woodcut, created ca. 1913-15.

Many of these works are currently available for purchase. For additional information and pricing, please contact one of our staff members at (800) 884-4022 or email gallery@kargesfineart.com or visit kargesfineart.com/gustave-baumann