H.C. Westermann (1922-1981)

Soldier

Details

H.C. Westermann (1922-1981)
Soldier
stamped with signature, number and date 'H.C. WESTERMANN 1976-NO.242' (on an edge) and stamped with inscription 'Chinese Gordon' (on one cruciform); stamped with inscription 'made of an unknown S.A. wood + granadillo purple heart wood + maple inlay. wax fin.' (on a plaque affixed to the underside of the armature)
wood, granadillo (cocobolo), purpleheart (amaranth), maple and brass assemblage
35 x 25 x 24 in. (88.9 x 63.5 x 61 cm.)
Executed in 1976.

Provenance

Allan Frumkin Gallery, New York
Xavier Fourcade, Inc., New York
Charles and Doris Saatchi, London
Anon. sale; Sotheby's, New York, 9-10 May 1984, lot 29
Waddington Galleries, London
Anon. sale, Sotheby's, New York, 27 Febaruary 1990, lot 176
Acquired at the above sale by the present owner

Literature

E. Lucie-Smith, Sculpture Since 1945, New York and London 1987, p.142, no. 175 (illustrated).
H.C. Westermann: West, exh. cat., Richmond Art Center, 1997, p. 20.
M. Rooks and L. Warren, H.C. Westermann: Exhibition Catalogue and Catalogue Raisonné of Objects, Chicago, 2001, pp. 156 and 344-345, no. 97 (illustrated in color).

Exhibited

London, Waddington Galleries, Groups III, February-March 1980 (illustrated).
London, Serpentine Gallery, H.C. Westermann, December 1980-February 1981, no. 35 (illustrated).
Chicago, Museum of Contemporary Art; Washington D.C., Hirshhorn Museum and Sculpture Garden; Los Angeles, Museum of Contemporary Art and Houston, Menil Collection, H.C. Westermann, June 2001-January 2003, pp. 156, 194 and 344-345, no. 267 (illustrated in color).

Lot Essay

"Soldier belongs to a group of cruciform works in Westermann's oeuvre... This specifically Latin cross appears as an individual element in a number of other works... Westermann used the Latin cross only with deadly seriousness and great respect; it was a symbol or memorial for someone or something-perhaps an idea-that has been lost. For Westermann, the cross' general commemorative connotations overshadowed its elaborate Christian iconography. Very few of Westermann's cruciform works directly refer to his comrades killed in action during World War II and the Korean War... Soldier is dedicated to British general Charles George Gordon, known as Chinese Gordon because of his success in quelling the Taiping Rebellion at the request of the Chinese emperor in 1864... Soldier is a monument to Gordon the soldier, as well as to all of the soldiers who died for causes that they believed in", (M. Rooks, H.C. Westermann: Exhibition Catalogue and Catalogue Raisonné of Objects, Chicago, 2001, pp. 344-345.

Soldier

Lot Essay

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