H. C. Westermann
Great Mother Womb1956-1957

Not on view

Sculptural wood cabinet with a biomorphic diamond-shaped body in honey and walnut tones, mounted on a matte black metal tripod base with diagonal rod bracing

Freestanding sculptural assemblage combining warm-toned wood and black metal. A diamond-shaped wooden form with a wire mesh interior opening sits atop a slender rod, with a smaller solid wood diamond panel hinged open to one side. The upper element is mounted on a black metal tripod base with diagonal cross-bracing.

Artist or Maker: H. C. Westermann
Title: Great Mother Womb
Place Made: United States
Date Made: 1956-1957
Medium: Laminated plywood, glass, and metal
Dimensions: 73 x 25 1/2 x 25 1/2 in. (185.42 x 64.77 x 64.77 cm)
Credit Line: Gift of Dr. Judd Marmor
Accession Number: M.2004.58.1
Classification: Sculpture
Collecting Area: Modern Art
Curatorial Notes: H. C. Westermann’s sculptures are direct and visceral and often involve puns. Born in Los Angeles in 1922, Westermann’s service in the Marine Corps during World War II and in the army during the Korean War led to his sense of man’s powerlessness and of life as a helpless and dangerous state. During his studies at the School of the Art Institute of Chicago, he worked as a carpenter to earn a living and was consequently attracted to wood as a medium for his art. Throughout his life, he applied the impeccable craftsmanship of a master carpenter to his sculpture. His works thus have an immaculate finish, with a particular attention to the wood’s grain and color.

In Great Mother Womb, Westermann’s hand-carved wood form references a seed pod, alluding to the concept of an essential earth mother. The swollen form and its thin supporting legs suggest both the fecundity and the fragility of the human condition. An interior inscription reads: “Great Mother Womb, all enveloping omnipotent, the seed, the beginning of mother of significance and insignificance, peace and war, love and hate, life and death, to god, nature and all women.”

Frances Lazare
Selected Bibliography: Wight, Frederick S. 20th Century Sculpture from Southern California Collections. Los Angeles: UCLA Art Galleries, 1972.
H.C. Westermann. Los Angeles: Los Angeles County Museum of Art, 1968.
Le Gallo, Éloïse. "Horace Clifford Westermann: si l'homme était une idée!" Cahiers du Musée National d'Art Moderne 150 (2020): 34-51.
Copyright: © H. C. Westermann Estate / Licensed by VAGA, New York, NY

H. C. Westermann
Great Mother Womb1956-1957

Not on view

Artist or Maker: H. C. Westermann
Title: Great Mother Womb
Place Made: United States
Date Made: 1956-1957
Medium: Laminated plywood, glass, and metal
Dimensions: 73 x 25 1/2 x 25 1/2 in. (185.42 x 64.77 x 64.77 cm)
Credit Line: Gift of Dr. Judd Marmor
Accession Number: M.2004.58.1
Classification: Sculpture
Collecting Area: Modern Art
Curatorial Notes: H. C. Westermann’s sculptures are direct and visceral and often involve puns. Born in Los Angeles in 1922, Westermann’s service in the Marine Corps during World War II and in the army during the Korean War led to his sense of man’s powerlessness and of life as a helpless and dangerous state. During his studies at the School of the Art Institute of Chicago, he worked as a carpenter to earn a living and was consequently attracted to wood as a medium for his art. Throughout his life, he applied the impeccable craftsmanship of a master carpenter to his sculpture. His works thus have an immaculate finish, with a particular attention to the wood’s grain and color.

In Great Mother Womb, Westermann’s hand-carved wood form references a seed pod, alluding to the concept of an essential earth mother. The swollen form and its thin supporting legs suggest both the fecundity and the fragility of the human condition. An interior inscription reads: “Great Mother Womb, all enveloping omnipotent, the seed, the beginning of mother of significance and insignificance, peace and war, love and hate, life and death, to god, nature and all women.”

Frances Lazare
Selected Bibliography: Wight, Frederick S. 20th Century Sculpture from Southern California Collections. Los Angeles: UCLA Art Galleries, 1972.
H.C. Westermann. Los Angeles: Los Angeles County Museum of Art, 1968.
Le Gallo, Éloïse. "Horace Clifford Westermann: si l'homme était une idée!" Cahiers du Musée National d'Art Moderne 150 (2020): 34-51.