World's Strongest Glue

1966

H. C. Westermann
American, 1922-1981

Status: On View, Gallery 227
Department: Contemporary Art

Artist: H. C. Westermann
Title: World's Strongest Glue
Place: United States (Artist's nationality:)
Date Dates are not always precisely known, but the Art Institute strives to present this information as consistently and legibly as possible. Dates may be represented as a range that spans decades, centuries, dynasties, or periods and may include qualifiers such as c. (circa) or BCE.: 1966
Medium: Solid cast bronze, brass, and paint
Dimensions: 39.7 × 28.3 × 32.1 cm (15 5/8 × 11 1/8 × 12 5/8 in.)
Credit Line: Gift of the Estate of Alan and Dorothy Press in acknowledgment of their family
Reference Number: 2023.2919

Barbara Haskell, H. C. Westermann, exh. cat. (New York: Whitney Museum of American Art, 1978), 19, 67 (ill.), 92.
William Wilson, “Birds Eye View of Vignettes in the Urban Landscape” Los Angeles Times, July 2, 1978, 80, as The World’s Strongest Glue.
Victoria Kirsch Melcher, “Artist Keeps Fear of Death at Bay” Kansas City Star, Dec. 24, 1978, 11D (ill.).
Dennis Adrian, H. C. Westermann, exh. cat. (London: Ernest Benn Ltd., 1980), n.p., cat. 18.
Michael Rooks and Lynne Warren, eds., H. C. Westermann: Exhibition Catalogue and Catalogue Raisonné of Objects, exh. cat. (Chicago: Museum of Contemporary Art; New York: Harry N. Abrams, Inc., 2001), 27, 287, MCA cat rais. 148 (ill.), 374.
Giampaolo Bianconi, Thea Liberty Nichols, and Ed Ruscha, H. C. Westermann: Anchor Clanker, exh. cat. (Chicago: Art Institute of Chicago, 2025), 72, pl. 9, 73 (color ill.), 106, cat. 9.

New York, Whitney Museum of American Art, H. C. Westermann, May 17–July 16, 1978, no cat. no.; New Orleans Museum of Art, Aug. 25–Oct. 15, 1978; Des Moines Art Center, Nov. 13–Dec. 25, 1978; Seattle Art Museum, Jan. 17–Feb. 25, 1979; San Francisco Museum of Modern Art, Mar. 30–May 20, 1979.
London, Serpentine Gallery, H. C. Westermann, Dec. 5, 1980–Feb. 8, 1981, cat. 18.
New York, Frumkin/Adams Gallery, H. C. Westermann: Sculpture from the Sixties, Jan. 5–28, 1995, cat. 4.
The Art Institute of Chicago, H. C. Westermann: Anchor Clanker, May 17, 2025–May 17, 2026, cat. 9.

The artist; Allan Frumkin Gallery, New York; William and Noma Copley, New York; Noma Copley, New York, by 1978 [Haskell 1978]; Frumkin/Adams Gallery, New York. Alan and Dorothy Press, Chicago, by 2001 [Rooks andWarren 2001]; their estate; given to the Art Institute of Chicago, Aug. 29, 2023.

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Date Dates are not always precisely known, but the Art Institute strives to present this information as consistently and legibly as possible. Dates may be represented as a range that spans decades, centuries, dynasties, or periods and may include qualifiers such as c. (circa) or BCE.

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