Bright Angel Trail 1922

Gustave Baumann made this color woodcut print, Bright Angel Trail, with multiple blocks, one for each color, I imagine. I like the way the purples and oranges create this expansive depth. It makes me think about artists like Marsden Hartley and how they used landscape to express these inner states. You know, when I look at this, I think about the sheer labor Baumann put into carving all those blocks! I imagine him really thinking through the landscape and how he could translate the different colours and textures into something flat yet vibrant. Did he sit there, right on the Bright Angel Trail, with his materials? What tools did he use? It's kind of amazing how he's captured the feeling of this place with such a simplified palette. It makes me want to go there myself, and maybe bring my paints! It shows that artists are always in conversation, borrowing and building on each other’s ideas.