The exhibition had three sections: one presented artist Leon Golub (1922–2004), a second focused on artist H. C. Westermann (1922–1981), and a third was entitled “Famous Artists from Chicago 1965–1975.” The artists in that third section were Jim Nutt (b. 1937), Ed Paschke (1939–2004), Karl Wirsum (1939–2021), Gladys Nilsson (b. 1940), Roger Brown (1941–1997), Art Green (1941–2025), Suellen Rocca (1943–2020), Ed Flood (1944–1985), and Christina Ramberg (1946–1995).
The section of Fondazione Prada’s exhibition devoted to H. C. Westermann showcased twenty works on paper and more than fifty sculptures that he created from the 1950s through the 1980s. Horace Clifford (H.C.) Westermann was born and raised in Los Angeles, and during WWII fought in Asia as a Marine gunner on the USS Enterprise. In 1947 he studied at the School of the Art Institute of Chicago, and in 1950 he enlisted to serve in the Korean War. After the war, Westermann returned to Chicago and continued his studies. In 1957, he sold his first sculpture to architect Ludwig Mies van der Rohe, who liked the materials. Westermann worked with various materials, and woodwork was predominant. The manner in which he treated wood stemmed from traditional carpentry. The images came from the tragedies of war and human experience. Westermann employed motifs of ships and airplanes that symbolized death and destruction, but the works also showed remarkable craftsmanship, poetic balance, tenderness, and sardonic humor.
Currently at the Art Institute of Chicago, an exhibition entitled “H. C. Westermann: Anchor Clanker” is on view. The exhibition is the largest Westermann sculptures show in Chicago in more than 20 years, made possible by the generous gift of 17 Westermann sculptures from the Estate of Alan and Dorothy Press. In one of the exhibition catalogue’s essays—drawn from a 2024 conversation between Art Institute curator Giampaolo Bianconi and California-based artist Ed Ruscha (b. 1937)—readers learn about Westermann in his own words:
“It’s almost as if you’re remodeling a house and you take down a wall and find someone left a note in there describing what was going on a hundred years ago when they were building the house. There’s something very emotional about that.”
Bianconi had noted that many of the sculptures from the Press collection include little compartments or secret areas where Westermann listed all of the materials in the sculpture and described how he made them—hidden messages in wood, waiting to be found. The exhibition runs at the Art Institute of Chicago until May 17, 2026.