Image Not Available

H.C. Westermann

American, 1922 - 1981

BiographyThat H.C. Westermann's art cannot be neatly placed within an art-historical category is indicative of his creative impetus: his need for personal expression. Although his studies at the Art Institute of Chicago (1947-1954) associate him with the "Chicago School," Westermann’s art is most affected by his stint as a gunner on the USS Enterprise during WWII where he witnessed many kamikaze attacks. This experience, along with his mother’s death from tuberculosis when he was nineteen, and his fathers remarriage, have formed Westermann’s ideas about the human condition: individuals are not only powerless to affect the impending and unpredictable destruction around them, but are fundamentally alone.

Since serving in the military, Westermann has sent letter-drawing correspondences to his family and friends, from which much information about his inner being was extracted. According to Westermann, "feeling right" is what guides his artistic decisions. Although he began his career in painting, in 1954 he abandoned painting for wood sculpture. Found material assemblage, ink and watercolor, and prints also appear in his body of work.

Person TypeIndividual