Museum of New Mexico Media Center Press Release

Gustave Baumann: A Legacy Honored in Santa Fe

New Mexico Museum of Art

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
June 15, 2011

MEDIA CONTACT

Gustave Baumann: A Legacy Honored in Santa Fe

Two exhibitions from the New Mexico Museum of Art

and a permanent installation at the New Mexico History Museum

(Santa Fe, NM—June 15, 2011)—Gustave Baumann is a familiar figure to most Santa Feans, noted for his timeless images depicting Southwestern landscapes and regional traditions of New Mexico. This master of the woodcut print is also celebrated locally for the playful marionettes he crafted that have performed for and delighted generations of New Mexicans both young and old. An artist perhaps more associated with Santa Fe than most, Baumann is featured prominently this summer in Santa Fe.

The New Mexico Museum of Art is presenting two exhibitions this summer celebrating Baumann, his prodigious creativity, and his love for New Mexico. On view through September 2, 2011 in the Governor’s Gallery at the New Mexico State Capitol is Gustave Baumann: Painter, Printmaker, and Puppeteer; and opening July 1, 2011 and closing March 18, 2012 at the New Mexico Museum of Art is The Prints of Gustave Baumann. Both exhibitions were curated by Merry Scully, curator of the Governor’s Gallery.The latter ex

Gustave Baumann: Painter, Printmaker, and Puppeteer is a playful exhibition representing Baumann’s diversity of artistic production. Opaque watercolor studies and preparatory sketches are paired with the popular color woodblock prints they inspired. The sketches and watercolors selected highlight the artist’s craftsmanship and working process. Baumann’s handmade marionettes are illustrated with a series of drawn studies for the carving of the puppets. The artist’s marionette portraits of himself and his daughter, Ann, greet visitors to the exhibition, and a staged vignette from Baumann’s marionette play, Christmas on Guimbo Island fills a large display case. The artwork and puppets are from the Museum of Art’s comprehensive collection of Gustave Baumann materials.

More images of the Baumann marionettes are available at the Pulling Strings virtual exhibition and on the museum’s web site.

The Prints of Gustave Baumann, at the New Mexico Museum of Art and continuing through December 2011, centers around Baumann’s print making process. The exhibit includes a sequence of prints and opaque watercolor studies illustrating Baumann’s woodcut printmaking  process, a couple of the blocks the artist carved and used to produce the print Spring Blossoms, and a selection of the artist’s finest color woodcut prints. Prints of New Mexico and a series of color woodcut prints depicting the rugged coast and mammoth trees of Northern California round out the exhibition.  

The Prints of Gustave Baumann opening will be celebrated with a Family Friendly Ice Cream Social, part of the Museum’s ongoing  Free Friday Evening events.

The New Mexico Museum of Art has a special affection for and relationship with Gustave Baumann and his legacy. Having spent the summer of 1918 in Taos at the suggestion of artist Walter Ufer, Baumann was returning home to Chicago when he stopped in Santa Fe to see an exhibit of prints that he had organized at the newly opened Art Gallery of the Museum of New Mexico (now the New Mexico Museum of Art). Enchanted with New Mexico, and Santa Fe in particular, he began planning a way to earn the money to finance a relocation to New Mexico. But then, the museum’s curator, Paul Walter, secured Baumann a small loan and studio space in the basement of the art museum. Baumann readily accepted and in just a short time became one of Santa Fe’s most beloved and respected artists, a standing not dimmed since his death in August 1971.

Baumann’s artistic spirit lives on in his faithfully recreated Santa Fe studio located in the historic Palace Press at the New Mexico History Museum. This permanent installation is reveals the tools and workspace of a meticulous craftsman who made his own inks and imported special linen papers from Germany.

Exhibition images may be found on the Museum of New Mexico media center.

Media Contacts:

Merry Scully

Curator of the Governor’s Gallery

505.476.5058

merry.scully@state.nm.us

 

Steve Cantrell

Public Relations Manager

505-476-1144

steve.cantrell@state.nm.us

 

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The Governor's Gallery is an outreach facility of the New Mexico Museum of Art and the Department of Cultural Affairs. Clara Apodaca, former First Lady of New Mexico (1975-1978), founded the gallery in 1975. The Governor's Gallery presents exhibitions throughout the year, including the annual Governor's Awards for Excellence in the Arts. 

Information for the Public 

The Governor’s Gallery is located on the 4th floor of the State Capitol at the corner of Old Santa Fe Trail and Paseo de Peralta in Santa Fe, NM.  For more information call 505-476-5072 or visit www.nmartmuseum.org

Hours:  Monday – Friday, 8:00 a.m.-5:00 p.m. 

Admission:  Free.

 

The New Mexico Museum of Art, founded in 1917 as the Art Gallery of the Museum of New Mexico, is housed in a spectacular Pueblo Revival building designed by I. H. and William M. Rapp based on their New Mexico building at the Panama-California Exposition (1915). The museum's architecture inaugurated what has come to be known as "Santa Fe Style." For nearly 100 years, the Museum has celebrated the diversity of the visual arts and the legacy of New Mexico as a cultural crossroads by collecting and exhibiting work by leading artists from New Mexico and elsewhere. This tradition continues today with a wide-array of exhibitions with work from the world’s leading artists.The New Mexico Museum of Art brings the art of New Mexico to the world and the art of the world to New Mexico.

 

The New Mexico Museum of Art is a division of the New Mexico Department of Cultural Affairs.

 

Information for the Public 

Location: Santa Fe’s Plaza at 107 West Palace Avenue.

Information:  505-476-5072 or visit www.nmartmuseum.org

Days/Times: Tuesday through Sunday, 10:00 a.m.-5:00 p.m.  Open Free on Fridays, 5:00-8:00 p.m. Between Memorial Day and Labor Day the Museum is open 7 days a week, including Mondays.

Admission: Adult single-museum admission is $6 for New Mexico residents, $9 for nonresidents; OR $15 for one-day pass to two museums of your choice (Museum of Indian Arts & Culture, Museum of International Folk Art, New Mexico Museum of Art, and Palace of the Governors/New Mexico History Museum) OR $20 four-day pass to the four museums listed above. Youth 16 and under, Foundation Members, and New Mexico Veterans with 50% or more disability always free

Sundays: New Mexico residents with ID are admitted free; Students with ID receive a $1 discount. Wednesdays: New Mexico resident seniors (60+) with ID are free. . Field Trips There is no charge for educational groups attending the museum with their instructor and/or adult chaperones. Contact the Tours office by phone at (505) 476-1140 or (505) 476-1211 to arrange class/group visits to the Museum.

 

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