Ruth Marchant Letter

H. C. Westermann was always eager to share new developments in his art with family and friends. In this letter to his maternal aunt, Ruth Marchant, Westermann describes how he cut the brass for a small sculpture, HCW Personage, with jeweler's blades and etched it with a "hard carborundum point tool" ("Carborundum" was the brand name of abrasive products). He was especially proud of the articulating movement of the figure's arm, letting his aunt know "it works," an expression of his commitment to the functionality of sculptural objects. The strong graphic style of the letter-drawing gives an indication of how Westermann translated his two-dimensional ideas into fully realized three-dimensional sculptures. In this case, he seems to have literally "drawn" on the brass with the hard point Carborundum tool in a technique resembling the relief printmaking processes of engraving or drypoint.