Chicago Loop: Imagist Art from 1949–1979

Sept 13–Dec 5, 2000

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.

H.C. Westermann, The Sweetest Flower, 1978. Pen and ink and watercolor on paper, sheet: 22 1/8 × 30 7/8 in. (56.2 × 78.4 cm). Whitney Museum of American Art, New York; purchase, with funds from The Lauder Foundation--Drawing Fund 78.102. © Estate of H.C. Westermann / Licensed by VAGA at Artists Rights Society (ARS), New York

Chicago Loop: Imagist Art from 1949–1979 was curated by Cynthia Roznoy.

On the Hour

A 30-second online art project:
Maya Man, A Realistic Day In My Life Living In New York City

Learn more about this project

Learn more at whitney.org/artport

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