Gustave Baumann Beyond Woodblock Prints
By Chadd Scott on
Art lovers have a deep roster to choose from when picking a favorite artist for representing northern New Mexico’s landscape. In my starting five along with Louisa McElwain (1953-2013) and Victor Higgins (1884-1949) is Gustave Baumann (1881–1971).
Baumann’s woodblock prints perfectly capture the soft yellows of the region’s turning cottonwoods, aspens and chamisa. He nails the adobe, the sky, the hollyhocks. Opposite McElwain’s dramatic movement and grandeur, Baumann’s landscapes are still, produced on a small scale, possessed of an undeniable warmth.
Somehow, they’re inviting.
Like northern New Mexico itself.
I was astounded to learn how much more artwork besides the iconic prints Baumann produced in his career. “Gustave Baumann: The Artist’s Environment” at the New Mexico Museum of Art on the Santa Fe Plaza endeavors to present the full spectrum of Bauman’s artmaking. The exhibition offers an unprecedented exploration of Baumann’s life, legacy, and enduring impact on the cultural landscape of northern New Mexico.
Gustave Baumann Christmas Card on view at the New Mexico Museum of Art. Photo by Chadd Scott.
Gustave Baumann in Santa Fe
Baumann first arrived in New Mexico in 1918, quickly becoming a beloved figure in the Santa Fe art community. While best known for his luminous and detailed woodblock prints, Baumann was creatively flexible with artistic pursuits also including painting, sculpture, drawing, marionette-making, and furniture design. His work–in all mediums–captures the vibrancy, diversity, and natural beauty of the Southwest with both technical mastery and unmistakable charm.
“This exhibition is about more than one artist, it’s about how an artist can help define a place—its spirit, its look, its stories—for generations,” New Mexico Museum of Art Interim Director Laura Mueller said. “Baumann shaped how the world sees New Mexico, and how New Mexicans see themselves.”
“Gustave Baumann: The Artist’s Environment” surveys all periods of Baumann’s prolific career delving deeply into the environments—physical, cultural, and artistic—that shaped his practice. Drawn primarily from the Museum’s extensive collection, the exhibition is organized thematically to highlight key influences and recurring motifs in Baumann’s work. These include his deep engagement with the region’s ecology and landscapes, his fascination with Puebloan and Hispano cultures, his whimsical approach to storytelling through marionettes and genre scenes, and his connection to international modernist movements in design and aesthetics.
Gustave Baumann, 'Curiosity Killed the Cat,' 1951. Oil on panel. Courtesy of the Ann Baumann Trust. Photo by Chadd Scott.
Gustave Baumann Marionettes and Oil Paintings
The marionettes are a wild diversion from Baumann’s two-dimensional work. Absent from his woodblock prints are the humor and whimsey pervading much of the rest of his output. The exhibition – and marionettes – do a fantastic job reinforcing this point.
Baumann was turned on to marionettes at the New Mexico Museum of Art during a performance there in 1929 by celebrated puppeteer Tony Sarg. Along with his wife, Baumann developed a cast of marionettes, a stage, and a repertoire of plays with sets and backdrops. Examples are on display in the exhibition.
Initially produced only for their daughter, word of these performances spread throughout town encouraging the couple to form the Santa Fe Puppet Wranglers and begin giving public shows in 1932. They would continue doing so through 1959 with their final performance being held at Santa Fe’s Museum of International Folk Art.
Gustave Baumann marionettes on view in 'Gustave Baumann-The Artist's Environment,' at the New Mexico Museum of Art. Photo by Chadd Scott.
The Baumann’s were particularly fond of the Christmas holiday. Included in the show are delightful Christmas cards Baumann produced for friends and family. The couple also put on a special holiday puppet show, a tradition that continues at the Museum during its annual Holiday Open House in December.
I took particular interest in Baumann’s oil paintings. With such great emphasis – rightly – placed on his prints, I’d never seen his work in oil before. Large, vibrant, dynamic paintings exploring all the contemporary artistic trends of his day: abstraction, Cubism, Surrealism. There would be no way of knowing these were Gustave Baumann artworks had they been on display elsewhere.
Hinting again to his humorous side, a number of the paintings are framed asymmetrical, eschewing the perfect rectangle or square. Humorous, yes. Whimsical, yes. Goofy, no. Baumann’s long life spanned the First World War and the Spanish Influenza, the Great Depression, the second world war, the atomic age, and Vietnam. He was there for all the apocalyptic traumas of the 20th century. Invitation to the Dance (1951) nods toward them.
Gustave Baumann, Invitation to the Dance, 1951. Oil on board. Collection of Michael Dianda and Jack Seely. Photo by Chadd Scott.
The oil paintings are museum caliber by themselves, even if his prints hadn’t opened the door.
Visitors to the exhibition are left dumbfounded by Baumann’s range. By his versatility. By the extraordinary talent he possessed across different mediums.
In this way, Baumann is not alone among artists. I am always dazzled to see artists working proficiently outside of their specialty. Charles Loloma, best known for revolutionizing Native American jewelry, was an outstanding painter. Tony Abeyta, a fantastic painter, is an exceptional jewelry maker. Fredric Reminton and C.M. Russell were obviously accomplished painters, draftsmen, and sculptors. I was bowled over by a photographic installation produced in 2025 by Jemez Pueblo ceramicist Kathleen Wall.
“Gustave Baumann: The Artist’s Environment” opened in two of the Museum’s special exhibition galleries and will expand to take over all four spaces beginning September 26, 2025. The first of the galleries will take down the show December 14, with the final space hosting his work through February 22, 2026.
A focus on Baumann’s prints can always be seen in Santa Fe at the New Mexico History Museum’s recreated Baumann studio and Owings Gallery’s two Plaza locations.
