GUSTAVE BAUMANN

Last week, Rika, Ted and I went to the Phoenix Art Museum to see the small albeit powerful "Gustave Baumann: Artisan Printmaker of the Southwest" exhibit. Oddly, a month or two ago, I had seen his work in one of those books of postcards on sale at an airport in New Mexico on a layover and was struck with the simple beauty of his prints. But some kind of negative "Oh, it's on sale, something must be wrong with it" or "Maybe I'm just jet lagged and this stuff is actually terrible, that's why it's on sale..." brain washing mechanism kicked in and I didn't buy the postcards. Dumb. Turns out his "stuff" is actually beautiful and after doing a google I found that there have been many an inspired blogger to adoringly blog his images.

After a few days of emotionally kicking myself, feeling like I had yet again made another horrible mistake, lo and behold, I received an email from the PAM saying Gustave would be there for me even though I had let the word "sale" skew what I had known instantly to be exceptional beauty (which is really weird and totally backwards 'cause I LOVE a sale).

So, off we went on FREE DAY! to see the exhibit (every wednesday is free day at the PAM but please leave a little donation to support your arts!). I found Baumann's prints to be honest, understated yet complex, and truly lacking in ego. He was really just trying to convey the beauty of his natural surroundings in a way that would be immediately felt by those who viewed his images. It was such a pleasure to be able to see his prints in person, all hand done by Gustave himself, and to see an inspired view of nature, vibrant and loved. And I got to buy my book of postcards.

See Gustave Baumann: Artisan Printmaker of the Southwest at the Phoenix Art Museum 

April 7-July 8, 2012

Orme Lewis Gallery

PhxArt.org