Untitled (for Lester Beall, Sr.)

Born in Los Angeles and active in Chicago before residing much of his professional life in rural Connecticut, H.C. Westermann created a meticulously crafted and highly personal body of sculptures, drawings,and prints. Westermanninsisted on originality anddemanded exacting craftsmanship. He frequently referred in his art to profound personal experiences, such as his military service in World War II and the Korean War. He also often drew heavily on elements of contemporary American culture. Indifferent to artistic trends, his work remains difficult to situate within conventional descriptions of post-World War II American art. Westermann frequently made small, hand-heldobjectsfor his daily use and otherscreatedspecifically as gifts to his wife, relatives, and friends.Many of these personal itemsare conceptually relatedto his signature (generally bigger) gallery sculptures.This piecewas a birthday gift to his father-in-law, the acclaimed graphic designer Lester Beall, Sr. (Beall’s initials are stamped withink at the top of thepiece.)The work consists of a tubular and limbless, one-eyedfigure standing before asteppedarchitectural structure. Westermann and Beall enjoyed an old-fashioned male camaraderie and no doubt shared many off-colored jokes. This work suggests the punch line of a barroom joke—a man’s erection is colloquially referred to as a “one-eye”.