Edith Baumann
Edith Baumann’s (b. 1948, Ames, IA) paintings concisely balancing precision with vulnerability, motion, and natural imperfection. Baumann’s latest series of paintings demonstrates her confidence in pattern and mark making, generating smooth, uninflected surfaces that challenge the viewer’s reliance upon fixed-point perspective. Baumann’s process begins with a ground consisting of over a dozen layers of various shades that result in a singular hue. The artist hand grinds pigments of vibrant primary and subdued earth tones mixed with acrylic medium which she applies to the canvas in thin layers to subtly reveal underlayers of color, testing the viewer’s awareness of surface and depth. “When painting, I move back and forth between the positive and negative space intuitively, changing the color – warmer, cooler, etcetera,” Baumann describes. “One area of color informs the other area.”
Baumann lives and works in Santa Monica, CA. She received her B.F.A. from University of California, Los Angeles in 1975 and completed an M.F.A. in painting at the University of Southern California in 1985.
Baumann has been the subject of numerous solo and group exhibitions nationally as well as internationally. parrasch heijnen has presented two solo exhibitions of Baumann’s work: Edith Baumann: Early Works and Edith Baumann: New Painting in 2018 and 2020 respectively. In 2023, Franklin Parrasch Gallery presented a solo exhibition of her work: Edith Baumann: Stillness in Motion, and in 2022 she was the subject of a solo exhibition at Modernism Inc., San Francisco, CA: Edith BAUMANN: New Works. Baumann was recently included in group exhibitions Acts of Surface at 7811 Gallery, Los Angeles, CA (2025); Dark Illumination at Franklin Parrasch Gallery, New York, NY (2025); Indivi Sutton + Edith Baumann at Analog Diary, Beacon NY (2024); Do you really believe that? at Fort Worth Contemporary Arts, Fort Worth, TX (2024); and Selections at Hunter Dunbar Projects, New York, NY (2022). Her work is held in such public institutional collections as the Los Angeles County Museum of Art, Los Angeles, CA. Edith Baumann is represented by parrasch heijnen, Los Angeles and Franklin Parrasch Gallery, New York.
Select Works
Select Exhibitions
Select Press
2023
Must-See Exhibition, Artforum, April 2023.
Laster, Paul. “6 American Galleries Highlighting Abstraction,” Art & Object, July 2020.
2020
Laster, Paul. “6 American Galleries Highlighting Abstraction,” Art & Object, July 2020.
2016
Santa Fe, Artnet, March 31, 2016
Art Daily, 2016.
Abatemarco, Michael. "Edith Baumann Random Structure", Pasatiempo, March 25, 2016.
2012
Cutajar, Mario. “Edith Baumann,” Art Scene, No.
2010
McGraw, kate. "Color and Movement,” Santa Fe / North, June 11.
Britt, Douglas. "Inman Broadens Reach with Collages, Abstracts,” Houston Chronicle, June 4.
1992
Pagel, David. “Coming Unraveled Is Anything But at Otis Gallery,” Los Angeles Times, December, 11.
1991
Frank, Peter. “Art Picks of the Week,” L.A. Weekly, June 28-July 4.
Invitational full page color reproduction, Artspace, Jan/Feb.
1990
Invitational, Artspace, Sept/Oct, (full page color).
Colpitt, Frances. “Absolute Contemplation,” Artspace, July/Aug, Cover.
1989
Knight, Christopher. “Drawing the Battle Lines in LA Painting,” Herald Examiner, March.
Muchnic, Suzanne. “Two Views of the ‘Revival’ of the Abstract,” Los Angeles Times, January 24.
Dubin, Zan. “An Exhibition Whose Time Has Come.” Los Angeles Times, January 1, 1989.
1988
Selwyn, Marc. “Visual Silences,” Flash Art, October
Levy, Mark. “California Contemporary Art,” Arts and Antiques, Oct/Nov
Selwyn, Mark. “Pick of the Week,” L.A. Weekly, June
Bulmer, Marge. Artscene, June
French, David. Artscene, June
Ollman, Leah. Los Angeles Times, 22 January 1988.
1987
Colpitt, Frances. “Edith Baumann-Hudson at Newspace,” Art in America, June, 1987.
1986
Wilson, William, Los Angeles Times, June 20
1985
Donohue, Marlena. “Divisions:7 LA Artists at LAICA,” Los Angeles Times, January, 1885.
1984
Saxon, Erik. “Six Painters”, Appearances, #11
1983
Muchnic, Suzanne. “Promising Newcomers at the Muni,” Los Angeles Times