Hand of a Craftsman: The Woodcut Technique of Gustave Baumann

by David Acton

Baumann leaned the fundamentals of color relief printmaking in Germany where he was a student in 1905; after some time in Chicago and Indiana, he lived and worked for more than 50 years in Santa Fe. This volume was conceived and designed to complement Gustave Nearer to Art , by Martin F. Krause et al (1993, Museum of New Mexico Press), which focused on the artist's life and his development as a printmaker; the present study concentrates on Baumann's printmaking methods and his achievements. Featured illustrations include studies and progressive proofs as well as prints from all periods of his career. 9.5x11" Annotation c. by Book News, Inc., Portland, Or.

Genres: Art

144 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 1996

Reviews

[Beth Johnson · Rating 4 out of 5]

For anyone who loves woodcut this is a must own.

[A.E. Reiff · Rating 3 out of 5]

The Grand Canyon. His wood cuts are probably worth the thousands they cost in healing influence alone, to look at his gouge marks. You can see why. But there is a chapter on how he came to ruination at Grand Canyon that shows what happens. The Canyon won't hold still! Ed Mell works from photographs, which simplified get some sense, and there is a superb traveling exhibit (http://www.sites.si.edu/exhibitions/e...) that gets there, but Baumann worked from a sketch and got lost. His piece is maybe the ugliest thing of the Canyon ever done. That is debatable. The Canyon changes every time you look at it, every time you lift your head. He saved his blocks and proofs with notes. But the rest, the twisting cypress, the aspens are beyond praising. Once I had wanted to find a book the author had signed somewhere odd, like in the middle. I picked up Frijoles Canyon Pictographs by surprise in slipcase and saw the middle foldout signed by Baumann.