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Arts & Activities, May, 2004 by Marjorie Cohee Manifold

H.C. Westermann (American; 1922-1981). Burning House, 1958. Pine, brass bell, tin, glass and enamel; 42 1/4" x 11" x 15".

ABOUT THIS ASSEMBLAGE

In the 1950s, H.C. Westermann and his wife Joanna lived in Chicago in a rented apartment on the top floor of a Victorian "gingerbread" building, which housed a coffeehouse on the lower level. On Dec. 22, 1953, a fire broke out in the coffee-house, causing severe damage to the rest of the building, including the Westermanns' apartment. The fearfully serious event inspired this bright and deceptively playful assemblage. Subtle visual cues of bright flames flickering through tiny port-hole-like windows and a text-screamed word rising from the tower hint at fear, entrapment and lurking dangers within the structure.

The exterior walls of Westermann's Burning House are presented as bright, new and well kept. They are fashioned of doweled wood that has been split, enameled, and laid in patterns suggesting the intricate exterior woodwork of Victorian architecture.

Yet, the actual house rented by Westermann and his wife had been less beautifully preserved. His former landlord described it as "marked by years of neglect" and in need of extensive remodeling. Westermann's decision to present Burning House as a pristine structure may be attributed to his love of excellent craftsmanship. "I would most certainly prefer to die than to do one, just one, piece that I didn't pour everything conceivable within me into," he once said.

The house is a thematic motif running through Westermann's life work. His first experience with home construction was the bedroom he added to his family home. Many years later, in 1969, he and Joanna moved to rural Connecticut, where he began building a uniquely fanciful home and studio. For the next 12 years, he designed and added to this construction; yet it remained unfinished at his death. Like Westermann's large house constructions, this small sculptural assemblage incorporates rich textural details with visual puns. These details imbue the house with an anthropomorphic personality and serve as metaphoric allusions to the living bodies and psychological states of being.

INSTRUCTIONAL RESOURCES

Curriculum Guides and Lessons:

* H. C. Westermann: Teacher Curriculum, a guide produced by the Smart Museum of Art, University of Chicago and the Museum of Contemporary Art, Chicago. Available online: www.mcachicago.org/ westermanncurriculum/

* Teachers Resource Book: The Builder's Touch, includes information about the artist, a lesson plan, and other instructional resources. Available online: www.mcachicago.org/MCA/Education/Teachers/Book/index.html

Books:

* Storr, R., H.C. Westermann. Harry N. Abrams, 2001.

* Adrian, D., See America First: The Prints of H. C. Westermann. David and Alfred Smart Museum of Art, the University of Chicago, 2001.

* Westermann, H.C., Letters from H.C. Westermann. Timken Publishers, 1988.

Articles:

* Cassidy, V. M. "Simple Gifts." Artnet Magazine, July 19, 2001. Available online: www.artnet.com/ magazine/features/cassidy/cassidy7-19-01.asp

* Myers, H. "Made in America: With Pride and Ambivalence." LA Weekly, July 26-Aug. 1, 2002. Available online: www.laweekly.com/ink/02/36/ art-myers.php

* Duncan, M. "Westermann's Way: Long an .Underground Favorite." Art in America, November 2002. Available online: www.findarticles.com/ m1248/1190/issue.jhtml

* Cooper, B. "Moral combat: H.C. Westermann's Sculptures Exhibit an Uneasy Peace." Los Angeles Magazine, July 2002. Available online: www.find Articles.com/m1346/7_47/issue.jhtml

VOCABULARY TERMS

* Anthropomorphic/Anthropomorphism: The attributing of human form, human characteristics, or human behaviors to non-human things.

* Assemblage: An artistic composition made from a collection of things, like junk, salvaged scraps, or odds and ends of material.

* Autobiography: The biography, or factual story, a person tells of his or her own life.

* Craftsmanship: The thoughtful, meticulously careful, and skillful fashioning of objects.

* Found objects: Objects, usually man-made, that originally served another purpose.

* Marquetry: A decorative work in which elaborate patterns are formed by the insertion of pieces of material (like wood, shell of ivory) into a wood veneer. The veneer is then usually applied to a solid surface, like a piece of furniture.

* Paradox: A statement that is seemingly contradictory or opposed to common sense and yet is perhaps true. In art this would mean that an image or object possesses seemingly contradictory qualities or ideas.

* Pun: The usually humorous use of a word in such a way as to suggest two or more of its meanings or the meaning of another word similar in sound.