Silver Sky by Gustave Baumann
Silver Sky
Gustave Baumann
Title
Silver Sky
Artist
Gustave Baumann
1881 - 1971 (biography)Year
1935
Technique
color woodcut, with aluminum leaf
Image Size
12 1/2 x 13 1/2" image
Signature
pencil, lower right
Edition Size
14/120 I
Annotations
titled in pencil, lower left
Reference
Baumann 106
Paper
cream Zanders laid paper with the Hand-in-Heart watermark
State
published
Publisher
artist
Inventory ID
AB4209
Price
SOLD
Description
Baumann first used metal leaf in 1928 for his color woodcut "Singing Woods" for which he employed gold, aluminum, or metal leaf as a sky color. In 1930, he produced three color woodcuts using aluminum leaf as a "color," these being "Processional," "April," "Tulips." In all, he created thirteen color woodcuts for which he used leaf.
This impression of "Silver Sky" was printed in the fall of 1935. A note as to the exact location has not been discovered in the Baumann archive but he exquisitely captured the luminosity of a rainy day in the American Southwest.
To print the leaf Baumann would print a block with mastic rather than color. As the mastic (a varnish) dried he would hand apply the leaf.