Night Ceremony by Gustave Baumann
Night Ceremony
Gustave Baumann
Title
Night Ceremony
Artist
Year
1948
Technique
color woodcut with aluminum leaf
Image Size
8 x 8" image
Signature
pencil, lower right
Edition Size
I 22/125 -48
Annotations
titled, lower left
Reference
Chamberlain 156; GB119
Paper
cream laid Zanders with hand & heart watermark
State
published
Publisher
artist
Inventory ID
DRW2061
Price
SOLD
Description
Night Ceremony is a fine example of one of Baumann's purely abstract color woodcuts. The impression was created from two blocks: one block printed a gray hue and the second printed a mastic for adhering the aluminum leaf. Impressions are dated 1948 but the imagery dates to 1938 when Baumann created a two-color woodcut entitled Dancing Shards. His roster of titles indicate that he only printed 35 impressions of Night Ceremony. Once Baumann settled in the southwest in 1918, he immediately begun collecting Indian kachina dolls and pottery, including potsherds. He respected the customs and ceremonies of the various pueblos and his attendance at the their dances was often noted in The Santa Fe New Mexican. In this abstract image, Baumann played with the idea potsherds to create dancing kachinas.