Spring Freshet

Gustave Baumann
1916
Color woodcut
10 7/8 x 9 3/4 inches

Other Information
Framed dimensions: 23 1/2 x 22 1/4 inches
Inscription: Signed lower right
Provenance: Peter and Alice Leonard Collection, Columbus, Indiana; thence by descent.
Exhibited: Chicago, Illinois, Art Institute of Chicago, "Exhibition of American Block Prints and Wood Engravings Assembled by Gustave Baumann," February 2–15, 1916; New York, New York, "Exhibition of Original Block Prints and Wood Engravings," Berlin Photographic Company, May 1–31, 1916; Buffalo, New York, Albright Art Gallery, "An Exhibition of Prints from the Painter-Gravers of America," November 1–30, 1917; Milwaukee, Wisconsin, Milwaukee Art Institute, "Wood Block Prints by Gustave Baumann," June 4–July 1, 1918; Cleveland, Ohio, Cleveland Museum of Art, "Exhibition of Wood Block Prints by Gustave Baumann," July 26–August 17, 1918; Santa Fe, New Mexico, Laguna Gallery, Museum of New Mexico, "Wood Block Prints by Gustave Baumann," opened October 7, 1918; Chicago, Illinois, Art Institute of Chicago, "Wood Block Prints by Gustave Baumann," January 6–February 6, 1919; Detroit, Michigan, Detroit Institute of Arts, "Wood Block Prints in Color by American Artists," November 20–December 31, 1919; Los Angeles, California, Los Angeles Museum of History, Science and Art, "Exhibition of Wood Block Prints by Gustave Baumann," December 1–31, 1919; Cleveland, Ohio, Cleveland Museum of Art, "Wood Block Prints in Color by American Artists," April 9–28, 1920; Albuquerque, New Mexico, Elks Club, "An Exhibition of Etchings and Block Prints by B. J. O. Nordfelt and Gustave Baumann," May 4–15, 1920; Detroit, Michigan, Detroit Institute of Arts, "Wood Block prints in Color by Contemporary Artists," November 1–30, 1920; Indianapolis, Indiana, John Herron Art Institute, "Gustave Baumann Woodblock Prints and Woodblocks," March 20–April 26, 1925; Washington, D. C., United States National Museum, Smithsonian Institution, "Wood Block Prints in Color by Gustave Baumann," October 2–25, 1926; Tucson, Arizona, Temple Art Gallery, Tucson Fine Arts Association, "Exhibition of Color Woodblock Prints by Gustave Baumann," opened February 21, 1928; Santa Fe, New Mexico, Museum of New Mexico Art Gallery, "Gustave Baumann: A Retrospective Exhibition of Color Wood Cuts," June 8–July 27, 1952; Santa Fe, New Mexico, Museum of New Mexico Art Gallery, "Gustave Baumann, 1881–1971," November 19, 1972–January 28, 1973; Fort Collins, Colorado, Morgan Library, Colorado State University, "The American West at CSU: Baumann Retrospective," July 15–October 15, 1973; Indianapolis, Indiana, Indianapolis Museum of Art, "Gustave Baumann (1881-1971)," 1978; Mount Vernon, Illinois, Mitchell Museum, "Seventh Annual Southern Illinois Artists Exhibition: Color Woodcuts by Gustave Baumann," September 27–October 26, 1980; Topeka, Kansas, Topeka Public Library, "Gustave Baumann: Color Woodcuts," May 17–June 17, 1981; Columbus, Indiana, Indianapolis Museum of Art, Columbus Gallery, "Columbus Collects: The Art of Indiana," August 3–October 27, 2002; Madison, Wisconsin, Chazen Museum of Art, University of Wisconsin, "Color Woodcuts International: Japan, Britain, and America in the Early Twentieth Century," December 9, 2006–February 25, 2007. Other examples exhibited except for the 2002 Columbus exhibition, which displayed the present work.
Literature: David Acton, "Hand of a Craftsman: The Woodcut Technique of Gustave Baumann," Santa Fe: Museum of New Mexico Press, 1996, reprod. in color, plate 2, p. 92 (another example); Martin Krause, "Columbus Collects: The Art of Indiana," Indianapolis Museum of Art–Columbus Gallery, 2002, reprod. in color, p. 47; Martin Krause, "Gustave Baumann: Views of Brown County," Oregon: Pomegranate Communications, Inc., 2018, reprod. in color, p. 124 (another example); Gala Chamberlain, "In a Modern Rendering: The Color Woodcuts of Gustave Baumann," Rizzoli Electa, New York, 2019, p. 180-181 (color, other versions and examples).
Edition II, printed circa 1924. Printed in six colors by the artist on cream Zanders Bergisch Gladbach laid paper. Good condition, fine period-style hand carved frame. Chamberlain 38, Baumann 3. From the artist: "The road up Jackson's Branch to the Hetherington cabin wandered over a creek bed with limestone steps. On this occasion the water making little pools trickled over them on its way to the river."