Marigolds by Gustave Baumann

Marigolds by Gustave Baumann

Marigolds

Gustave Baumann

Title

Marigolds

 
Artist
Year
1916 / printed about 1919 
Technique
color woodcut 
Image Size
22 1/4 x 18 1/4" image 
Signature
signed in India ink within image 
Edition Size
fewer than 100 
Annotations
carved into the block at the lower sheet edge: HAND PROOF GUSTAVE BAUMANN (his KOSHARE symbol separates his first and last name); the paper tape around the print is inscribed by Baumann: Marigolds/No 94/SPECIALLY DESIGNED OVAL FRAME 15.00" 
Reference
Chamberlain 43 (thin impression illustrated in the catalogue, cat. 43.2, p. 191); Baumann 94 
Paper
heavy ivory wove 
State
from a later printing after Baumann incised his Koshare symbol in the lower right of rectangle; this symbol was not used until Baumann was in the Southwest 
Publisher
artist 
Inventory ID
AB4060 
Price
SOLD
Description

The three differing versions of "Marigolds" are illustrated in the catalogue raisonne, In a Modern Rendering: The Color Woodcuts of Gustave Baumann" on pages 190 and 191, showing the maliable approach Baumann took with the woodcut medium.

"Marigolds" was originally designed to be trimmed into an oval shape to fit an oval frame, indicated by Baumann's own notes as well as the thin white line around the outside of the decorative scalloped border, intended as a cutting guide. Some he trimmed, others he left as was, as shown here (this being the same impression used in the catalogue, cat. 43.2). For a second edition, printed in 1929, Baumann recut the blocks, trimming the entire image into a square format. Throughout all of the editions, colors vary, yet each style--owing to Baumann's instinctive sense of design--is strong in its own right.

Chamberlain quotes Baumann family friend Peggy Church, in a tribute written after the passing of Baumann in 1971, on page 189 of the catalogue, "I still cherish a print of marigolds in an oval frame that Gus traded my father for a German shepherd pup in 1924. I often think that Gus looked at New Mexico through a spectrum of marigold colors, set off by earth tones and splashes of green and blue. Even his skies are like marigold petals, yellow and orange and creamy white. Canyon walls and storm clouds vibrate with similar bright tones."