The Cleveland Museum of Art

Collection Online as of December 14, 2025

Pelican Rookery

1928

Gustave Baumann

(American, born Germany, 1881–1971)
America
tempera over graphite on gray paper
Image: 27.6 x 31.2 cm (10 7/8 x 12 5/16 in.); Sheet: 37.2 x 31.3 cm (14 5/8 x 12 5/16 in.)
Gift of Ann Baumann 2005.471
© Ann Baumann Trust
Location: Not on view

Description

Sketching trips throughout the Southwest and California stimulated Baumann’s imagination, and he returned home renewed and inspired. “When mental excursions within the four walls of the studio fail to get me anywhere, I begin to overhaul the sketching outfit. . . . And I’m off, taking with me the secret hope of a sketching ground no artist’s eye has ever beheld.” California brown pelicans nest in offshore colonies to protect their young from predators. Baumann’s only seascape, Pelican Rookery depicts the birds on a rocky outcrop along the Pacific shore near Monterey or Carmel. Using a palette of pale colors, the lively drawing, later translated into a color woodcut, depicts rippling water and silvery ocean reflections, while black strengthens shadows and delineates rugged curvilinear forms.
  • February 27, 2006
    The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH
    Ann Baumann, Santa Rosa, CA
  • Gustave Baumann: Colorful Cuts. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (organizer) (December 20, 2020-June 27, 2021).
  • {{cite web|title=Pelican Rookery|url=false|author=Gustave Baumann|year=1928|access-date=14 December 2025|publisher=Cleveland Museum of Art}}

Source URL:

https://www.clevelandart.org/art/2005.471