Gustave Baumann (Germany/New Mexico/California, 1881-1971) color block print on cream laid paper entitled "Spring New Mexico" depicting a Southwestern scene in which a Pueblo-style adobe building stands behind white and pink-flowered trees under a blue sky. The scene is enclosed in one of Baumann's signature decorative borders. Pencil titled lower left; numbered "No 7 of 100," lower center; and pencil signed with hand-in-heart artist's chop, lower right. Unframed. Image: 11" W x 9" H. Sheet: 16" W x 13 1/2" H. A very early impression from the first edition, carved and printed in 1924. Ref: Chamberlain 102. Biography (from the Fine Arts Museums of San Francisco): Born in Magdeburg, Germany in 1881, Baumann's family moved to Chicago in 1891. He studied at the Art Institute of Chicago and later at Kunstgewerbeschule in Munich where he studied under Maximilian Dasio (1865-1954), a painter who experimented with linocuts, and Hans Neumann (1873-1957), a woodcut artist, and learned both techniques. In addition to Chicago, Baumann traveled extensively throughout the United States, living in Brown County, Indiana from 1910-1917 where he created IN THE HILLS O' BROWN, a portfolio of twelve four-color woodcuts. He eventually settled in Santa Fe, New Mexico where he lived for over 50 years. He traveled to California several times and created a series of eleven woodblock prints of California scenes. He was very active in the Santa Fe area community and was the WPA coordinator in Santa Fe during the 1930s. His works were exhibited at Panama-Pacific International Exposition of 1915 where he won a gold medal and at the Los Angeles County Museum of Art in 1926. A printmaker and painter, Gustave Baumann is known for his colorful woodblock prints, particularly his landscapes depicting scenes in New Mexico, the California coast, and life in Southwestern pueblos.

CONDITION: Print is in overall good condition but glued to mat. One 3 1/2" x 1/2" area of staining (perhaps adhesive from the mat) in margin below title, lower left, and smaller areas in upper center and along left border. Paper is evenly toned. Some loss to paper along upper edge en verso appears to result from past removal of tape. Mat is discolored throughout.