Preparation drawing forThe Connecticut Ballroom: Arctic Death Ship

Best known as a sculptor and printmaker, H. C. Westermann’s art was heavily influenced by his experiences serving in both World War Two and the Korean War. In World War Two, he served on the aircraft carrier USS Enterprise, which suffered numerous kamikaze attacks by Japanese fighter pilots on suicide missions against the allied naval forces. He also witnessed the destruction of the USS Franklin and the subsequent loss of over eight hundred men. These horrific experiences would later appear in Westermann’s Death Ship series of sculptures, paintings, prints, and drawings. The Arctic Death Ship is one example. This drawing is a preparatory study for one of seven woodcut prints that made up a suite entitled The Connecticut Ballroom (1975-1976), and in it, the death ship sinks in an icy sea.

Westermann studied at the School of the Art Institute of Chicago after both of his tours of duty. He was also known for refusing to interpret his own works and once responded to a request for interpretation by saying, “It puzzles me too… How can I explain a work like that?”