Summer Rain

Gustave Baumann

Baumann printed "Summer Rain" in four separate campaigns: No.I, in 1926 in a projected edition of 100, printing 40 and then another 35 (number 45 the highest recorded); No.II, in the mid 1930s, during the Depression he re-cut some blocks and printed a proposed edition of 120 (the highest found is 52-120); No.III, was done in an edition of 125 with some blocks re-cut (the highest number found is 51-125).

For this projected edition, No. IV, Baumann recut the blocks again, as noted by the "R-C" penciled within the dotted border in the lower right, before the numbering the edition of 50. He also chose a more translucent ink for the sky, allowing the paper's color and texture to come through and creating a rich teal hue.

Originally printed in 1926, Baumann revisited "Summer Rain" three decades later. This impression is used to illustrate the fourth and final edition on page 324 of In a Modern Rendering: The Color Woodcuts of Gustave Baumann. Baumann often revisited his older works, perhaps finding a new way to portray his appreciation for what he had become familiar with.

In the notes on "Summer Rain" Chamberlain quotes Baumann: "...Seeing things with a fresh eye is a great advantage. While most of us have an itch to be where we are not, some of us that chose to investigate Santa Fe found it a pleasantly colorful place worthy of a second look..."