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Recto: Molly Lucas of Brown County

Artist Gustave Baumann (American, 1881–1971)
Title Recto: Molly Lucas of Brown County
Date Ca. 1912
Medium Charcoal and tempera on grey brown paper
Dimensions Sheet: 12 5/8 × 10 1/8 in. (32.1 × 25.7 cm)
Credit Line Gift of the Ann Baumann Trust, Eskenazi Museum of Art, Indiana University
Accession Number 2020.40A

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About this Work

Gustave Baumann was one of the first printmakers associated with the Brown County Art Colony. In 1909, he became a part-time resident of Nashville, Indiana, and a close friend of painter T.C. Steele. Baumann continued to travel between southern Indiana and Chicago until 1916, because as he said: “I went to investigate art possibilities. Brown County was easy to commute to and I found that restful something we all yearn for. Life was simple; I could stay two months for $100.” Baumann used colorful paintings on paper and griselle drawings as the basis for his woodcults, although no corresponding print has been identified for this work. Mary L. "Mollie or Molly" Lucas and her sister Allie Ferguson were colorful characters in the town of Nashville. She was a washwoman who did chores for some of the local artists and ran an inn for a while. There is a drawing of the Aunt Molly Lucas House in the collection of the Indianapolis Museum of Art at Newfields.


Provenance research is ongoing for this and many other items in the Eskenazi Museum of Art permanent collection. For more information about the provenance of this artwork, please contact the department curator with specific questions.

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"Recto: Molly Lucas of Brown County | Collections Online." Collections Online. Sidney and Lois Eskenazi Museum of Art, Indiana University, 2025. https://artmuseum.indiana.edu/collections-online/browse/object.php?number=2020.40A