Art Smart Fact:It was only five years earlier that the relatively unknown Gustave Baumann had stunned the art world by capturing a Gold Medal at the Panama-Pacific International Exposition in San Francisco. Virtually every major artist working at the time had entered work in the Exposition's worldwide competition. Printmaking would never be the same after millions of visitors and young artists saw Baumann's extraordinary woodcuts for the very first time.

About The Art: To further paraphrase the book: "The enduring popularity of Baumann's landscapes, combined with his own insatiable wanderlust, induced him to continue his travels in the West, and late in the summer of 1920 he took trip during which he made many gouache paintings from which ten woodcuts were later executed. These prints approximate a visual diary of the artist's wilderness excursion. MOUNTAIN POOL is an outstanding print from this group, one that skillfully evokes a captivating atmosphere with illusive effects of space, light and color. Surrounded by a ring of aspen trees, a quiet pond stands dappled and reflective in the sunshine. At the same time, long shadows suggest a radiant evening. While the foreground screen of tree trunks is in shadow, those on the opposite bank are bathed in warm, alluring light.

Gustave Baumann is considered by many to be the "best of the best" of any color woodcut artist who ever worked in this difficult medium. Today, original woodcuts by Baumann cost thousands of dollars if and when you can find them. But you don't need to win the lottery to own his work. Just as finely crafted furniture from past eras has been replicated because the original makers are gone, this is a fine reproduction of MOUNTAIN POOL. Indeed, it is one of the best reproductions I have seen in over two decades of selling both original and replicated Baumann woodcuts. It was made using contemporary printing techniques, however you will be very surprised how authentic the signature and hand-in-the-heart chop mark look and how good the colors are.....even the paper has texture. Several of the out-of-print reproductions have gone on to become valuable themselves. MOUNTAIN POOL is available unframed only.