Wash Barnes Cabin by Gustave Baumann

Wash Barnes Cabin by Gustave Baumann

Wash Barnes Cabin

Gustave Baumann

Title

Wash Barnes Cabin

 
Artist
Year
1912 /14 
Technique
color woodcut 
Image Size
19 3/4 x 26 5/8" image 
Signature
pencil, lower right 
Edition Size
unnumbered; from an edition of 50 
Annotations
pencil titled in lower left 
Reference
PPIE 1915, cat. no.897; Chamberlain 32 
Paper
ivory wove Japanese vellum 
State
published 
Publisher
artist 
Inventory ID
AB4057 
Price
SOLD
Description

"Wash Barnes Cabin" (also known as "The Washington Barnes Cabin") is one of five oversize color woodcuts Baumann produced between 1912 and 1913 depicting Brown County, Indiana. His inspiration for these five woodcuts was the rustic beauty of the county but he also hoped to place them within Brown County schoolrooms so the children would have something of beauty to inspire them.

Washington and "Ma" Barnes have become part of the folklore of Brown County. As one story goes, the couple physically divided their cabin rather than getting a divorce. Mary ("Ma") Barnes lived in the front of the cabin and Wash in the back. When Wash died, his body had to be taken out of a window, as Ma would not allow him to pass through the front door.

"Wash Barnes Cabin" was exhibited at the 1915 Panama Pacific International Exposition in San Francisco along with two other large format color woodcuts: "Plum and Peach Bloom" and "Harden Hollow". Baumann won a Gold Medal for his woodcuts.

At this time these were some of the largest multiple block color woodcuts ever created.