Gustave Baumann
Born Germany, 1881
Died New Mexico, 1971

Gustave Baumann's family emigrated from Germany to Chicago in 1891, when he was only ten years old. When Baumann was 17, he worked for a commercial engraving house while attending night classes at the School of the Art Institute of Chicago. In 1905, he returned to his native Munich where he enrolled in the Kunstgewerbe Schule (Arts and Crafts School). There he studied wood carving while mastering the European technique of color wood block prints. After a year in Germany, Baumann resettled in the United States.

He moved to Brown County, Indiana in 1910. The landscapes of Indiana became his main focus. He produced a portfolio of colored woodcuts entitled, "In the Hills of Brown." In 1915, these woodcuts of Indiana won the gold medal for printmaking at the Panama Pacific International Exposition in San Francisco. In 1916, he organized the first national exhibition of color woodcuts by American artists at the Art Institute of Chicago. Baumann headed to Santa Fe in 1918 to visit his friends Walter Ufer and Victor Higgins. Once in New Mexico, Baumann was overwhelmed by the natural beauty of the state and decided to live there permanently. It was there he met and worked with John Sloane, Randall Davey, and Fremont Ellis. In 1952, he was named Honorary Fellow in Fine Arts School of American Research. He continued living and working in Santa Fe until his death in 1971.

Education: Kunstewerbe Schule, Munich, Germany; Art Institute of Chicago, IL.

Exhibitions: (partial list) Pan-Pacific Exposition, San Francisco, 1915, Baumann was awarded the Gold Medal; Cleveland Museum of Art, 118, Museum of Fine Arts, Santa Fe, 1918; Art Institute of Chicago 1919; The Museum of History, Science and Art, Los Angeles, 1919; Detroit Institute of Art, 1919; "First International Print Makers Exhibition," Los Angeles, 1920; Worcester Art Museum, Massachusetts, 1930.

Reference Material:
Acton, Krause and Yurtseven, Gustave Baumann: Nearer To Art. Museum of New Mexico Press. Santa Fe, 1993.
Coke, Van Deren, Taos and Santa Fe The Artist's Environment 1882-1942. University of New Mexico Press, Albuquerque, 1963.
Nestor, Sarah and Robertson, Edna, Artists of the Canyons and Caminos. Peregrine Smith, Inc., 1976.

Biography courtesy of David Cook Galleries, www.antiquesandfineart.com/davidcook