H. C. Westermann
From The Art and Popular Culture Encyclopedia
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H. C. Westermann (Horace Clifford "Cliff" Westermann) (11 December1922 (Los Angeles, California) – 3 November1981 (Danbury, Connecticut)) was an American printmaker and sculptor whose art constituted a scathing commentary on militarism and materialism. His sculptures frequently incorporated traditional carpentry and marquetry techniques.
Westermann worked in logging camps as a rail worker in the Pacific Northwest. During World War II he served as a gunner in the U.S. Marine Corps on the aircraft carrier U.S.S. Enterprise, witnessing numerous kamikaze attacks and the sinking of several ships. He toured the Far East as an acrobat with the United Service Organization, and enrolled in The School of the Art Institute of Chicago in 1947.
In 1950, Westermann re-enlisted in the Marines for service in the Korean War. After his discharge, he returned to The School of the Art Institute of Chicago and completed his studies in fine art. The psychological effects of his wartime experiences were an underlying theme in his work.
In 1967, he was one of the celebrities featured on the cover of the Beatles' album, Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band.
He was given a retrospective at the Whitney Museum of American Art in 1978.
Works
- Untitled (in the manner of Salvador Dali) - about 1948
- Theatrical Worlds Spirit after Bernardino Jacobi - about 1949
- A Soldier’s Dream - 1955
- Dismasted Ship - 1956
- Ensor’s Mother - 1956
- Untitled (“Unusual Physician”) - 1957
- Memorial to the Idea of Man If He Was an Idea - 1958
- Mad House - 1958
- Battle of Little Big Horn - 1959
- Angry Young Machine - 1959
- Destructive Machine from Under the Sea - 1959
- Disasters in the Sky #2 - 1962
- Walnut Box - 1964
- Antimobile, 1965
- Death Ship of No Port - 1967
- Green Planet (Green Planet π) - 1967
- Woman from Indianapolis (Columbia, Missouri) - 1967
- See America First - a series, 1968
- The Connecticut Ballroom - 1975-76
- Jack of Diamonds - 1981
