H.C. Westermann

The Sweetest Flower
1978

A colorful illustration depicts a surreal scene with two figures on a wooden dock. On the left, a woman with elongated arms and a green dress with black spots extends her arms towards a seagull illuminated by a yellow spotlight. On the right, a skeletal figure in a white suit with a red flower on the lapel blows smoke from a cigarette. Below the text quoting Shakespeare, "Death lies on her, like an untimely frost upon the sweetest flower of the field," a striped orange cat crouches next to a dead bird. The background features a dusky sky with a crescent moon and a body of water reflecting the scene.

A colorful illustration depicts a surreal scene with two figures on a wooden dock. On the left, a woman with elongated arms and a green dress with black spots extends her arms towards a seagull illuminated by a yellow spotlight. On the right, a skeletal figure in a white suit with a red flower on the lapel blows smoke from a cigarette. Below the text quoting Shakespeare, "Death lies on her, like an untimely frost upon the sweetest flower of the field," a striped orange cat crouches next to a dead bird. The background features a dusky sky with a crescent moon and a body of water reflecting the scene.

Not on view

Date
1978

Classification
Drawings

Medium
Pen and ink and watercolor on paper

Dimensions
Sheet: 22 1/8 × 30 7/8in. (56.2 × 78.4 cm)

Accession number
78.102

Credit line
Whitney Museum of American Art, New York; purchase, with funds from The Lauder Foundation--Drawing Fund

Rights and reproductions
© Estate of H.C. Westermann / Licensed by VAGA at Artists Rights Society (ARS), New York

API
artworks/3303

Exhibitions

Chicago Loop: Imagist Art from 1949–1979

Sept 13–Dec 5, 2000

H.C. Westermann
11 works in the collection, 8 exhibitions

View artist