Gustave Baumann

Gustave Baumann was born in Magdeburg, Germany, in 1881. Ten years later, along with his family, Baumann relocated to the United States, eventually settling in Chicago. Displaying a natural aptitude for the arts, he worked as a commercial engraver while putting himself through night school at the Art Institute of Chicago - before returning to Germany in 1904 to study wood block printing at the Kunstgewerbeschule ("School of Arts and Crafts") in Munich. Upon his return to the United States, Baumann received international acclaim when one of his color woodcuts won the gold medal at the Pan-Pacific International Exhibition (1915) in San Francisco. Three years later, in 1918, Baumann settled in Santa Fe, quickly emerging as a leading artistic figure of the American Southwest. He is generally credited with the revival of color wood block printing in the 20th century, and was hand-picked as Area Coordinator for the Works Progress Administration's Public Works of Art Project in the 1930's. http://www.gustavebaumann.net/Gustave_Baumann_Biography_Page.htm