Skip to main content
Want more images or videos?
Request additional images or videos from the seller
1 of 3

Gustave Baumann
'Taos Placita' — American Southwest Regionalist Masterwork

1947

About the Item

Gustave Baumann, 'Taos Placita', color woodcut, 1947, edition 125. Baumann 132. Signed, titled, and numbered '20-125' in pencil; with the artist’s Hand-in-Heart chop. A superb, richly-inked impression, with fresh colors, on fibrous oatmeal wove paper; the full sheet with margins (2 to 3 1/8 inches); slight rippling at the left sheet edge, in excellent condition. Matted to museum standards, unframed. Image size 9 5/8 x 11 1/4 inches (244 x 286 mm); sheet size 13 1/4 x 17 inches (337 x 432 mm). Collections: New Mexico Museum of Art, Phoenix Art Museum, Wichita Art Museum. ABOUT THE ARTIST Gustave Baumann (1881-1971) was a renowned printmaker and a leading figure of the American color woodcut revival whose exquisite craftsmanship and vibrant imagery captured the essence of the Southwest. "A brilliant printmaker, Baumann brought to the medium a full mastery of the craft of woodworking that he acquired from his father, a German cabinetmaker. This craftsmanship was coupled with a strong artistic training that resulted in the handsome objects we see in the exhibition today. After discovering New Mexico in 1918, Baumann began to explore in his woodblock prints of this period the light. color, and architectural forms of that landscape. His prints of this period are among the most beautiful and poetic images of the American West." —Lewis I. Sharp, Director, Denver Art Museum Baumann, the son of a craftsman, immigrated to the United States from Germany with his family when he was ten, settling in Chicago. From 1897 to 1904, he studied in the evenings at the Art Institute of Chicago, working in a commercial printmaking shop during the day. In 1905, he returned to Germany to attend the Kunstwerbe Schule in Munich, where he decided on a career in printmaking. He returned to Chicago in 1906 and worked for a few years as a graphic designer of labels. Baumann made his first prints in 1909 and exhibited them at the Art Institute of Chicago the following year. In 1910, he moved to the artists’ colony in Nashville, Indiana, where he explored the creative and commercial possibilities of a career as a printmaker. In 1915, he exhibited his color woodcuts at the Panama-Pacific International Exposition in San Francisco, winning the gold medal. Among Baumann’s ongoing commercial activities was his work for the Packard Motor Car Company from 1914 to 1920 where he produced designs, illustrations, and color woodcuts until 1923. In 1919, Baumann’s printmaking work dominated the important exhibition of American color woodcuts at the Detroit Institute of Arts. Twenty-six of his prints were included, far more than the works of any other artist. A set of his blocks, a preparatory drawing, and seven progressive proofs complemented the exhibition. That same year, Baumann worked in New York and, over the summer, in Provincetown, Massachusetts. His airy images of Cape Cod employed soft, pastel colors and occasionally showed the influence of the white-line woodcut technique. Many of his Chicago artist friends had traveled to the southwest, and Baumann became intrigued by their paintings, souvenirs, and stories of an exotic place named Taos, New Mexico. In the summer of 1918, he spent the summer in Taos sketching and painting before visiting Santa Fe. Paul Walter, the director of the Museum of New Mexico, offered him a studio in the museum's basement. Inspired by the rugged beauty of the Southwest—the vibrant colors and dramatic landscapes of the region became a central theme in his work, influencing his artistic style and subject matter for the remainder of his career. Later in the decade, he traveled to the West Coast and made prints of California landscape. Baumann's prints became synonymous with the Southwest, capturing the spirit of its place in America's identity with a unique sense of authenticity and reverence. His iconic images of desert vistas, pueblo villages, and indigenous cultures served as visual tributes to the region's rich cultural heritage, earning him a dedicated following among collectors and curators alike. A true craftsman and artist, Baumann completed every step of the printmaking process himself, cutting each block, mixing the inks, and printing every impression on the handmade paper he selected. His dedication to true craftsmanship and his commitment to preserving the integrity of his artistic vision earned him widespread acclaim and recognition within the art world. About the vibrant colors he produced, Baumann stated, “A knowledge of color needs to be acquired since they don’t all behave the same way when ground or mixed...careful chemistry goes into the making of colors, with meticulous testing for permanence. While complicated formulae evolve new colors, those derived from Earth and metal bases are still the most reliable.” In the 1930s, Baumann became interested in puppet theater. He designed and carved his own marionettes and established a little traveling company. From 1943 to 1945, the artist carved an altarpiece for the Episcopal Church of the Holy Faith in Santa Fe. In 1952, a retrospective exhibition of his prints was mounted at the New Mexico Museum of Fine Arts. Throughout his prolific career, Baumann executed nearly four hundred color woodcuts. Baumann’s woodcuts are represented in over 100 museums in the United States and Great Britain including the Albuquerque Museum, Akron Art Museum, Art Institute of Chicago, Cleveland Museum of Art, Denver Art Museum, Fine Arts Museums of San Francisco, Indianapolis Museum of Art, Metropolitan Museum of Art, National Gallery of Art, New Mexico History Museum, New Mexico Museum of Art, New York Public Library, Smithsonian America Art Museum, and the Stark Museum of Art.
  • Creator:
    Gustave Baumann (1881-1971, American, German)
  • Creation Year:
    1947
  • Dimensions:
    Height: 9.63 in (24.47 cm)Width: 11.25 in (28.58 cm)
  • Medium:
  • Movement & Style:
  • Period:
  • Condition:
  • Gallery Location:
    Myrtle Beach, SC
  • Reference Number:
    Seller: 1041881stDibs: LU532313514122

More From This Seller

View All
'Sundown, Stonington, Maine' — Artist-printed Exhibition Proof
By Lawrence Wilbur
Located in Myrtle Beach, SC
Lawrence Nelson Wilbur (1897-1988), 'Sundown, Stonington, Maine', wood engraving, artist's proof, edition not stated but small, 1969. Signed and titled in pencil. Signed in the block...
Category

1940s American Modern Landscape Prints

Materials

Woodcut

'Hill' — American Modernism, California
By Paul Landacre
Located in Myrtle Beach, SC
Paul Landacre, 'Hill', wood engraving, 1936, edition 60 (only 54 printed); only 2 impressions printed in a second edition of 150. Signed, titled, and numbered '49/60' in pencil. Wien...
Category

1930s American Modern Landscape Prints

Materials

Woodcut

Tranquil Harbor (Gloucester, Massachusetts) — 1950s Cape Ann Regionalism
By Lawrence Wilbur
Located in Myrtle Beach, SC
Lawrence Nelson Wilbur (1897-1988), 'Tranquil Harbor' (Gloucester, Massachusetts), wood engraving, edition 55, 1958. Signed in pencil, and signe...
Category

1950s American Modern Landscape Prints

Materials

Woodcut

'Laguna Cove' — American Modernism, California
By Paul Landacre
Located in Myrtle Beach, SC
Paul Landacre, 'Laguna Cove', wood engraving, 1935; edition 60 (16 printed), 2nd edition 150 (6 printed), Woodcut Society 200, Wien 247. Signed and titled in pencil. A brilliant, black impression, on cream wove Japan, with full margins (3/4 to 1 3/4 inches), in excellent condition. Archivally matted to museum standards, unframed. This impression is from the edition published for the Twentieth Presentation Print of the Woodcut Society, 1941. Printed by Torch Press, Cedar Rapids. Literature: Reproduced in 'James Swann...
Category

1930s American Modern Landscape Prints

Materials

Woodcut

'Financial District', New York City — American Modernism
By Howard Norton Cook
Located in Myrtle Beach, SC
Howard Cook, 'Financial District', lithograph, 1931, edition 75, Duffy 155. A fine, richly-inked impression, on cream wove paper, the full sheet with wide margins (2 3/4 to 5 5/8 inches), in excellent condition. Image size 13 5/16 x 10 3/8 inches (338 x 264 mm); sheet size 23 x 16 inches (584 x 406 mm). Matted to museum standards, unframed. Literature: 'American Master Prints from the Betty and Douglas Duffy Collection', the Trust for Museum Exhibitions, Washington, D.C., 1987. Collections: Crystal Bridges Museum of American Art, Library of Congress, Metropolitan Museum of Art, Philadelphia Museum of Art, Smithsonian American Art Museum. ABOUT THE ARTIST Howard Norton Cook (1901-1980) was one of the best-known of the second generation of artists who moved to Taos. A native of Massachusetts, he studied at the Art Students League in New York City and at the Woodstock Art Colony. Beginning his association with Taos in 1926, he became a resident of the community in the 1930s. During his career, he received two Guggenheim Fellowships and was elected an Academician in the National Academy of Design. He earned a national reputation as a painter, muralist, and printmaker. Cook’s work in the print mediums received acclaim early in his career with one-person exhibitions at the Denver Art Museum (1927) and the Museum of New Mexico (1928). He received numerous honors and awards over the years, including selection in best-of-the-year exhibitions sponsored by the American Institute of Graphics Arts, the Brooklyn Museum, the Society of American Etchers, and the Philadelphia Print Club. His first Guggenheim Fellowship took him to Taxco, Mexico in 1932 and 1933; his second in the following year enabled him to travel through the American South and Southwest. Cook painted murals for the Public Works of Art Project in 1933 and the Treasury Departments Art Program in 1935. The latter project, completed in Pittsburgh, received a Gold Medal from the Architectural League of New York. One of his most acclaimed commissions was a mural in the San Antonio Post Office in 1937. He and Barbara Latham settled in Talpa, south of Taos, in 1938 and remained there for over three decades. Cook volunteered in World War II as an Artist War Correspondent for the US Navy, where he was deployed in the Pacific. In 1943 he was appointed Leader of a War Art Unit...
Category

1930s American Modern Figurative Prints

Materials

Lithograph

'Downtown, New York' — 1920s Modernism
By John Taylor Arms
Located in Myrtle Beach, SC
John Taylor Arms, 'Downtown, New York', etching with aquatint, 1921, edition 75, Fletcher 108. Signed, dated, and numbered 14/75 in pencil. A superb, finely nuanced impression, in d...
Category

Early 20th Century American Modern Landscape Prints

Materials

Etching

You May Also Like

Oscar Weissbuch, Westchester Hills (NY), New Deal, WPA-era wood engraving
Located in New York, NY
New York City native Oscar Weissbuch (1904-1948), attended the Yale University School of Fine Arts and the Art Students League, NY. He participated in the NYC-WPA printmaking project...
Category

1930s American Modern Landscape Prints

Materials

Woodcut

3 Turns - Surfing Art - Figurative Print - Woodcut Print By Marc Zimmerman
By Marc Zimmerman
Located in Carmel, CA
Three surfers carving up the Hawaiian waves, having a blast in the tropical surf. 3 Turns - Surfing Art - Figurative Print - Woodcut Print By Marc Zimmerman Limited Edition 01/05 ...
Category

2010s American Modern Figurative Prints

Materials

Woodcut

Monterey Fisherman [and] Monterey Fisherman 2.
By Antonio Frasconi
Located in New York, NY
Diptych. This two sheet color woodcut was created by Antonio Frasconi in 1951. Edition 8. Each image size 19 7/16 x 16 7/16" (49.4 x 418 cm) plus margins. Signed and titled in p...
Category

Mid-20th Century American Modern Landscape Prints

Materials

Woodcut

View of Venice I - San Giorgio
By Antonio Frasconi
Located in New York, NY
Antonio Frasconi created the color woodcut entitled "View of Venice I – San Giorgio" in 1968. It is signed, titled, dated, and inscribed “17/20” in pencil. The paper size is 24 x 36 ...
Category

1960s American Modern Landscape Prints

Materials

Woodcut

View of Venice II - Bacino
By Antonio Frasconi
Located in New York, NY
Antonio Frasconi created the color woodcut entitled "View of Venice II – Bacino" in 1968. It is signed, titled, dated, and inscribed “13/18” in pencil. The paper size is 24 x 36 inch...
Category

1960s American Modern Landscape Prints

Materials

Woodcut

Alhambra XII
By Antonio Frasconi
Located in New York, NY
Antonio Frasconi created the color woodcut entitled “Alhambra XII” in 1963. This piece is signed titled, and dated in pencil. The edition is 12, and paper size is 18 x 24 inches. “...
Category

1960s American Modern Landscape Prints

Materials

Woodcut

Recently Viewed

View All