Gustave Baumann - Singverein

Gustave Baumann
Singverein
1907
Color woodcut
7.5 x 11 in.
Signed lower right, dated lower left
Nicely presented in modern frame

It wouldn't take long for Gustave Baumann (b. 1881 in Magdeburg, Germany) to become one of the most influential American printmakers of the 20th Century. At the age of 10 his family moved to the United States where he would eventually study at the Art Institute of Chicago.

In 1904 he returned to Munich for one year where he continued to improve his wood carving and learned the techniques of wood block prints. From there he would settle in Brown County, Indiana and become a member of the Brown County Art Colony. It was while living in Indiana that Baumann began to master the color woodblock.

The piece offered here is a very early example, dating from 1907. Titled Singverein, meaning Singing Club, I imagine the artist participating in such an event in his early days in downtown Nashville, Indiana.

Baumann’s work can be found in museum collections throughout the United States. An example of this particular piece can be found in the permanent collection of the New Mexico Museum of Art. This work comes professionally framed and ready for immediate enjoyment.