Artwork Page for Summer Clouds

Details / Information for Summer Clouds

Summer Clouds

1926

Gustave Baumann

(American, born Germany, 1881–1971)
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Culture
America
Medium
woodblock for gray
Measurements
Overall: 29.3 x 25.3 cm (11 9/16 x 9 15/16 in.)
Credit Line
John L. Severance Fund 2003.241.2
Catalogue raisonné
Chamberlain 110
Copyright
© Ann Baumann Trust
This artwork is known to be under copyright.
Location
Not on view
Print

Description

Baumann did all the work of making woodcuts himself. He used a wide variety of knives, chisels, and gouges to cut basswood blocks, a soft yet durable even-grained wood. Inks were fabricated by grinding dry pigments and mixing them with a varnish base according to the artist’s own recipes. He developed a comprehensive understanding of ink chemistry, learning that each pigment behaved differently; some could not be mixed or overprinted by others. Baumann was fussy about the support for his prints and preferred high-quality, slightly textured cotton or linen papers that ranged in color from ivory to light tan. Woodcut is a relief technique. Excess wood is cut away, leaving the design raised. “Draw directly on the block whatever you want,” Baumann instructed. “Then cut away whatever you don’t want and print what’s left.”
A vertically oriented woodblock of light-toned wood features raised relief sections coated in gray-blue ink. Two billowy cloud forms dominate the center and right side. In the upper-left, dense cross-hatching surrounds a small circular emblem. Below, deep, horizontal grooves fill the bottom half. Smooth, inked surfaces contrast against raw, recessed areas where jagged tool marks and wood grain are visible.

Summer Clouds

1926

Gustave Baumann

(American, born Germany, 1881–1971)
America

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