The Old Print Shop

Gustave Baumann

1881-1971

A master of the color woodcut, Gustave Baumann was born in Magdeburg, Germany, and emigrated to the United States with his family in 1891.  After studying at the Art Institute of Chicago and working as a commercial artist, he returned to Germany in 1905 to study the art of color woodcut for a year. 

Upon winning the Gold Medal for printmaking at the Panama-Pacific International Exposition in San Francisco, Baumann was asked to organize the first exhibition of American woodcut prints at the Art Institute of Chicago. After spending time at artist colonies in Brown County, Indiana, and Provincetown, Massachusetts, he moved to Taos in 1918 and then settled in Santa Fe. 

During his long creative life, Baumann produced woodcuts, paintings, sculpture, furniture, and even carved some frames for his prints. The ultimate artist and craftsman, Baumann carved his own blocks, mixed the color inks, and printed each plate himself.  "A suitable piece of wood, a tool and a hand to work it is the beginning of the Baumann Print."

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