Gustave Baumann (1881-1971). Hopi Katcinas, 1925. Color woodcut printed in seven colors by the artist with the Hand-in-Heart watermark. From a projected edition of 100. Edition I, numbered 5 in the lower center margin. Signed by the artist in pencil l/r Gustave Baumann and stamped with the Hand-in-Heart chop. Titled lower left, Hopi Katcinas. Image size: 12 1/4 x 13 1/4 in. Excellent condition for this rare print.
$18,000.00
Out of stock
“In Santa Fe, Gustave Baumann’s talent and skill came to full flower: the brilliant simplicity and subtlety of color in the surrounding landscape inspired him to become an innovator and an acknowledged master of his art… the hot, clear sunlight, the forested mountains, the dancing Indians, the lilacs of Spring, and the October aspens were, in a sense, first perceived by him.” –J.B. Jackson, Gustave Baumann Centennial
Remarkable for the contrast between the solidly printed black background and the pastel yellow foreground. Most inks are opaquely printed, and black defines details on each kachina. Bright blue marks the face of Making Thunder Kachina, in the upper left, as well as the necklace and the horns of nearby kachinas. The central mudhead clowns are dark pink with ochre scarves, and the soles of the reclining mudhead clown are black. The towering headpiece of the white-skirted Hemis Kachina has no feathers. A solid line forms the interior order, and a dotted line forms the exterior border.
Gustave Baumann was a rarity among color printmakers in that he never had an assistant or student and while he was working, few people were ever allowed to watch. Because of the tremendous amount of time required to cut, proof, and print the woodcuts he spent little of it keeping records.
Baumann approached the color woodcut like a painter; often experimenting with color changes within the edition, on occasion adding or subtracting blocks with little regard to making prints that looked exactly alike.
Baumann’s work is held in a number of prestigious collections both public and private and is highly sought after by collectors to this day.
Provenance:
From the artist to Robert M. McKinney, Santa Fe, NM, and then by descent in the family.
Ref: Chamberlain, In A Modern Rendering: The Color Woodcuts of Gustave Baumann, A Catalog Raisonné; p. 310. No. 106.1
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