Gustave Baumann (New Mexico/California, 1881-1971), "The Bishop's Apricot," color woodblock print on cream laid paper depicting a lone apricot tree against a bright blue sky and verdant green field, created 1924. Titled in pencil lower left, numbered 87/125 lower right of image, pencil signed with the artist's hand-in-heart inkstamp lower right. Unframed. 9 3/8" H x 11 1/4" W. Biography (from the Fine Arts Museums of San Francisco): Born in Magdeburg, Germany in 1881, Baumann's family moved to Chicago in 1891. He studied at the Art Institute of Chicago and later at Kunstgewerbeschule in Munich where he studied under Maximilian Dasio (1865-1954), a painter who experimented with linocuts, and Hans Neumann (1873-1957), a woodcut artist, and learned both techniques. In addition to Chicago, Baumann traveled extensively throughout the United States, living in Brown County, Indiana from 1910-1917 where he created "In the Hills o' Brown", a portfolio of twelve four-color woodcuts. He eventually settled in Sante Fe, New Mexico where he lived for over 50 years. He travelled to California several times and created a series of eleven woodblock prints of California scenes. He was very active in the Santa Fe area community and was the WPA co-ordinator in Santa Fe during the 1930s. His works were exhibited at Panama-Pacific International Exposition of 1915 where he won a gold medal and at the Los Angeles County Museum of Art in 1926. A printmaker and painter, Gustave Baumann is known for his colorful woodblock prints, particularly his landscapes depicting scenes in New Mexico, the California coast and life in Southwestern pueblos.

Glued to backing board with losses/tears to sheet margins, overall toning to paper.