H. C. Westermann

Horace Clifford Westermann ( born December 11, 1922 in Los Angeles, California, USA, † November 3, 1981 in Danbury, Connecticut ) was an American sculptor and painter. He is considered an important representative of contemporary avant-garde sculpture and object art.

Life and work

Horace Clifford Westermann studied from 1947 to 1950 at the Art Institute of Chicago.

His early work dealt mainly with war themes. Later he created montages of miniature houses made of plywood with findings from other materials such as glass, metal and more. The merger with the modern methods of installation and the traditional sculpting techniques Westermann created a variety of art works with several recurring themes: war, social and political criticism and comments, technology and science fiction, humor, travel and transportation. He also created object boxes that are close to Dadaism and Surrealism.

His first solo exhibition was in 1961 at the Allan Frumkin Gallery in New York City. In 1968 he was represented by six wood and wood-metal sculptures participants in the documenta 4 in Kassel and was also at the documenta 5 in 1972. In 1976 he had an exhibition at the Whitney Museum of American Art in New York City.

Literature and sources

• Exhibition catalog for Documenta IV: IV documentation. International Exhibition; Catalogue: Volume 1: ( painting and sculpture ); Volume 2: (graphics / objects ); Kassel 1968
• Kimpel, Harald / stem, Karin: documenta IV International Exhibition 1968 - A photographic reconstruction ( Series of the documenta - Archives); Bremen 2007, ISBN 978-3-86108-524-9
• Exhibition catalog: documentation fifth survey of reality - imagery today; Catalog (as folders ) Volume 1: (material); Volume 2: ( list of exhibits ); Kassel in 1972