The Door yards

Gustave Baumann

The Door Yards is one of twelve color woodcuts that Baumann produced for his 1910 portfolio, In the Hills o’ Brown. This image is also known with the alternative titles The Dooryards, Back Door Yard, and A Backyard. Impressions were printed over several years and color variation occurred. Many years after living in Brown County, Indiana, Baumann penned his manuscript Of a County Called Brown. In his writing, he described this scene: “Wandering about and forgetting the right to privacy, I found myself snooping around in backyards where chickens cackled and ducks squacked [sic]. I don’t know if it was to greet me or keep me out. Everything was picture stuff bared in a simple way of living that seemed to have no undercurrent of discontent…”