Taos Christmas '52 by Helmut Summ

This is a striking screenprint titled Taos Christmas '52 by Wisconsin artist Helmut Summ. The artist uses the three primary colors plus white and black to create the dramatic scene of parishioners approaching an adobe church. The steep walls of the church support a white cross that is set against a clear dark blue sky full of stars. The light and shadow of the scene draws the eye to the center of the scene as if we are in line behind the first group of worshipers preparing to enter the church for Christmas Eve service. A beautiful tableau. The piece is signed in ink lower right H. Summ and the title is lower left. The piece is framed and has not been examined out of the frame. The framed size is 12 3/4 x 10 1/2 inches. The image is 7 x 5 inches. The print appears to be laid on the backing with sheet just exceeding the image size. It is in very good condition. The colors are vivid without any fading. There are no condition issues including no staining, foxing, toning, tears, or paper loss. It's a beautiful and dramatic work by this artist.

Helmut Summ (1908-1992) Helmut Summ was born in Hamburg, Germany. He studied at the Kunsthalle Hamburg before emigrating to the United States and settling in Kohler, Wisconsin. He received an art degree from the University of Wisconsin-Madison. He participated in several different artistic environments to continue training and gain experience. These included the Black River Art Colony (Arthur Coit), the C. Peters School in Rockport, Massachusetts where he also studied with painter Umberto Romano. He associated with many different prewar artists that led to his mature style. One of his major influences was another German-American artist with Wisconsin roots, Lyonel Feininger. Summ returned to Wisconsin and taught in the Milwaukee public school system for 17 years before becoming professor and eventually chair of the art department at what was then called the Milwaukee State Teacher’s College a position he held until his retirement. He was a pioneer in the emerging printmaking technique of screenprinting and used this effectively to create images that incorporated aspects of both realism and abstraction. Best known in Wisconsin, his work is held by the Cedarburg Art Museum, the Miller Art Museum, the Gallery of Wisconsin Art, and the Museum of Wisconsin Art. He was selected to contribute a woodcut for the 1937 American Block Print Calendar a collection that included woodcuts by some of the most famous American printmakers of the time.