An Introspective look at Artist Werner Drewes

Werner Drewes was born on July 27, 1899 in Germany. During his youth, he attended the Bauhaus, a German art institution famous for its approach to design. Drewes studied alongside famed artists Klee and Kandinsky. He completed his time at the Bauhaus in 1929 and emigrated to the United States in 1930. The years of the great depression hurt most, but Drewes flourished when he first settled in New York City. Known for his printmaking, he taught his craft at the Brooklyn Museum School. He also taught at Columbia University, and later at Washington University in St. Louis.

Werner Drewes, Thanksgiving, 1969

Influenced by Kandinsky, Drewes’ paintings were abstract and full of bright color. He also involved elements of Cubism in many of his creations. The painting below, entitled Collage #304, functions as a cubist inspired piece. Collage,first introduced by Pablo Picasso, was startling to critics of the time for its intent to heighten the importance of craft to that of “high art” and all together abolish the hand of the artist. In Drewes Collage #304, he uses a dynamic composition, with strong diagonals and geometry to excite the viewer. Bright solid colors becomes the subject matter here.

Drewes, Collage #304, 1977.


Drewes’ use of color is a defining characteristic of his style, where bold blocks of color combine with abstract shapes. His compositions became increasingly more abstracted as the years went on. After retiring from teaching, Drewes settled in Virginia and stayed there until his death in 1985. During this time, the artist was recognized with a number of exhibitions at major galleries, and even a retrospective devoted entirely to his printmaking at the Smithsonian American Art Museum.

The Impressionists were painters of light. While the modern movement originated in France with the famous plein-air (outdoor) painters such as Claude Monet and Pierre-Auguste Renoir, in America the movement resonated with the country’s budding patriotism and pride in the late 19th century. At a time when the promise of western expansion was igniting the curiosity and imagination of Americans, propelling them westward across the country’s magnificent spread, American artists turned to the practice of plein-air painting.

Among the most famous of Midwestern Impressionists was Theodore Clement Steele, a native of Indiana and member of the Hoosier School of painters. Born in Owen County, Indiana in 1847, Steele studied at the Royal Academy in Munich, Germany and then returned to the United States to pursue a career in portrait painting. After traveling through the southern Indiana landscape, Steele was inspired to purchase a studio and living space in Brookville, where his passion for landscape painting was reignited.

Steele’s work combines the charm of the Midwestern landscape with Impressionist themes of middle class leisure activities. Similar to the work of the French Impressionists, pieces like 16th Street, Indianapolis (Winter Morning) (seen below) reveal both a desire to capture a fleeting moment in nature, as the daylight radiates off the fallen snow, and a scene of everyday city life.

Image source: Indiana State Museum

One of the most beneficial aspects of painting en plein-air was the artists’ uninhibited access to the magnificence of nature. As seen in this piece entitled Autumn Morning, Steele’s Impressionist emphasis on light creates warm and inviting color palettes. His quick and highly visible brushstrokes evoke both his physical process of painting and the presence of the artist’s hand.

Image source: Indiana State Museum

All of Steele’s majestic Impressionist landscapes promote a sense of peace and tranquility, as man harmoniously co-exists with nature. While the landscapes primarily evoke the grandeur of the Indiana landscape, the presence of man is always felt, even if it is not explicitly shown. Unlike the dark warnings found in some Parisian Impressionist cityscapes that show the slow intrusion of pollution and the isolation of modern life, Steele’s landscapes boast a blissful relationship with a thriving natural world.

Researched and written by Emma Stein

Sources
Letsinger-Miller, Lyn. The Artists of Brown County. Bloomington and Indianapolis: Indiana University Press, 1994.
Nesbit, M. Joanne, ed., Barbara Judd, comp. Those Brown County Artists: The Ones Who Came the Ones Who Stayed the Ones Who Moved On. Nashville: Nana’s Book, 1993.


MIR Appraisal Services, Inc. is a fine art and antiques appraisal company that places a premium on research and client satisfaction. Employing a team of experts knowledgeable in various fine arts objects, MIR’s employees go the extra mile and dig deep into the interesting histories of the pieces brought to their attention by clients. Far from just giving an accurate monetary appraisal MIR offers clients true insight into the deeper value of their treasured items. 



MIR Appraisal Services, Inc.
Principal Appraiser: Farhad Radfar, ISA AM
307 N. Michigan Avenue, Suite 308
Chicago, IL 60601
(312) 814-8510

H. C. Westermann

c. 1946 H. C. Westermann (top) and acrobatic partner on deck of the U.S.S. Enterprise.

When thinking about the art scene of the late 1950s and ‘60s, most Americans think of the Pop Art movement and artists like Andy Warhol and Roy Lichtenstein in New York. However, in Chicago, H. C. Westermann was creating intricate pieces of art that played on themes of war, death, love and the mementos of a life. They were very hands-on personal pieces, different from the advertising influenced art of the masses that was the Pop Art movement.

Westermann was born Horace Clifford Westermann in Los Angeles, CA in 1922. At a young age, he submitted drawings to Disney Studios and was offered a job, which was later revoked when his young age was revealed. He also took an early interest in acrobatics, which continued into his adult life, resulting in a fellow artist commenting, “At times it seemed that I got to see the soles of his shoes as much as I did his face.” He joined the marines during World War II, and later re-joined during the Korean War, where he observed several kamikaze attacks, resulting in numerous deaths. Between the wars, and after, Westermann attended the Art Institute of Chicago, and stayed in Chicago to complete his education.

H. C. Westermann in Chicago, c. 1950s

Westermann was highly influenced by his time in the Marines and all that he witnessed. For example, the sculpture shown below has the appearance of an old sailor’s treasure trove, with its finely carved wooden lock and chain and the wooden rope clutched by the upright fist. Furthermore, every item contained within the chest speaks of an adventure or loss in some unknown person’s life, now tucked away in a static almost melancholy manner.

Korea, Mixed Media Sculpture, c. 1965 (The Smart Museum of Art)

Likewise, another sculpture, shown below, shows a military perspective of the world. A carefully balanced globe is topped by a silhouetted cut-out of Dick Tracy, while aggressive implements of war emerge from the surface of the globe. The orb also feels tethered by an intricate chain and pulley system, weighted by a mini skyscraper.

The Unaccountable, Mixed media Sculpture, c. 1959

Both items described above have a unique hand crafted quality, which makes them feel like personal artifacts. They are in distinct contrast to the Pop Art creations of Warhol and Lichtenstein. This is not to say that one form of expression is more important then the other, but rather it is an example of how differently artists can interpret the world around them, even within the same time period. To learn more about the significance of your items, please call or email MIR Appraisal Services, Inc.

Researched and written by Anja Keppeler

MIR Appraisal Services, Inc.
Principal Appraiser: Farhad Radfar, ISA AM
307 N. Michigan Avenue, Suite 308
Chicago, IL 60601
(312) 814-8510

MIR Appraisal Services, Inc., is located just steps from the Art Institute of Chicago and the Chicago Cultural Center; please do give us a ring to set up an appointment for a verbal evaluation of your most prized works of art.

Bibliography
http://www.mcachicago.org/westermanncurriculum/frames/frm_home.html
http://www.tfaoi.com/aa/3aa/3aa333.htm
http://www.lib.uchicago.edu/cgi-bin/efts/smart/display.image.pl?accession=2002.122
http://www.cowanauctions.com/past_sales_view_item.asp?ItemId=74633