Gustave Baumann

1881 Magdeburg, Germany - 1971 Santa Fe, New Mexico

BiographyGustave Baumann was born in Magdeburg, Germany on June 27, 1881. In 1891 his family relocated to Chicago to begin a new life. At the young age of ten years old, Gustave sought out an income to help support his family. Baumann was hired by the Franklin Engraving Company as an apprentice engraver and was also later employed by Zeese, Gandy, and Bruner, another local engraving company. He soon opened his own engraving business in 1901 while also taking night art classes at the School of the Art Institute of Chicago. His desire to pursue a fine art career led him to study abroad at the Königliche Kunstgewerbeschule München (Royal school of arts and crafts) in Munich. Before leaving, he became a citizen of the United States in March, 1904.

Baumann returned to Chicago in December 1905 and focused on his art career. In 1915, he was recognized for his work and won a gold-metal and honorable mention for a portfolio of wood cuts that were included in the Panama Pacific International Exposition. A few years later, after Gustave learned about the southwest through inspiring stories of fellow artists who traveled the area, he moved to New Mexico. In 1918 he spent the summer in Taos and then went to Santa Fe to paint and draw. He was offered a studio in the basement of the Museum of New Mexico by director, Paul Walter.

Over the years Baumann produced work in a variety of media including paintings, drawings, sculpture, furniture, toys and wrote poetry, in addition to his prints, for which he is most known. HIs work is in over 100 museum collections and his work has been shown across the United States and internationally. Publications featuring Gustave include, In A Modern Rendering The Color Woodcuts of Gustave Baumann: A Catalogue Raisonné by Gala Chamberlain with essays by Nancy E. Green and Thomas Leech (Rizzoli Electa, 2019); The Autobiography of Gustave Baumann, edited by Martin Krause (Pomegranate Press, 2015); Gustave Baumann Views of Brown County, edited by Martin Krause (Pomegranate Press, 2018); Gustave Baumann: Nearer to Art by Martin Krause and David Acton (Museum of New Mexico Press, 2015); Hand of a Craftsman: The Woodcut Technique of Gustave Baumann by David Acton (Museum of New Mexico Press, 1996); and Gustave Baumann's Southwest by Joseph Traugott (Pomegranate Press, 2007). Gustave Baumann died in Santa Fe, New Mexico on October 8, 1971.

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