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Westermann's Table
1966 H. C. Westermann Born: Los Angeles, California 1922 Died: Danbury, Connecticut 1981 Douglas-fir plywood, Masonite, leather-bound books, bolt, brass nut, paint, and graphite 44 x 23 x 23 1/2 in. (111.8 x 58.4 x 59.7 cm) Smithsonian American Art Museum Museum purchase through the Luisita L. and Franz H. Denghausen Endowment 2002.51 Not currently on view
Westermann was a short, muscular veteran of World War II and Korea whose comic sculptures showed his anger at America's militarism and the lies of politicians. In Westermann's Table, institutional gray paint coats the leaves of books on state laws and clipper ships, and a large bolt secures the volumes, suggesting a locked-down history of the nation. The pressure of the bolt squeezes the books into the plywood pedestal, creating a surreal portrait of the artist as an angry and well-informed man ready to explode.
Exhibition Label, Smithsonian American Art Museum, 2006
Keywords
Object - furniture - table
Object - written matter - book
sculpture
fiberboard - masonite
paint
pencil - graphite
readymade - book
readymade - hardware
wood - fir
About H. C. Westermann
Born: Los Angeles, California 1922 Died: Danbury, Connecticut 1981
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