Hugo Edmond Weber (1918–1971) was a Swiss-born, American artist and arts educator. Weber was known as an abstract, avant‐garde artist active in Chicago, Paris and New York City between the 1940s–1971. He worked mainly in painting but was also known to work in bronze for sculpture.

Biography

Weber was born in

Basel , french: link=no, Bâlois(e), it, Basilese , neighboring_municipalities= Allschwil (BL), Hégenheim (FR-68), Binningen (BL), Birsfelden (BL), Bottmingen (BL), Huningue (FR-68), Münchenstein (BL), Muttenz (BL), Reinach (BL), Riehen (BS ...

, Switzerland in 4 May 1918. He studied painting at the

University of Basel The University of Basel (Latin: ''Universitas Basiliensis'', German: ''Universität Basel'') is a university in Basel, Switzerland. Founded on 4 April 1460, it is Switzerland's oldest university and among the world's oldest surviving universit ...

, studying with artist . He moved to Paris, France by 1939 and was studying art with sculptor

Marcel Gimond Marcel Antoine Gimond (1894–1961) was a French sculpture, sculptor known for his busts, statues, and portraits in bronze. Biography Gimond was born in the Ardèche region of France. He first studied at the Académie des Beaux-Arts, ''Beaux-Art ...

. Through this relationship with Gimond, Weber met with

Aristide Maillol Aristide Joseph Bonaventure Maillol (; December 8, 1861 – September 27, 1944) was a French sculptor, painter, and printmaker.Le Normand-Romain, Antoinette . "Maillol, Aristide". ''Grove Art Online. Oxford Art Online''. Oxford University P ...

Hans Arp Hans Peter Wilhelm Arp (16 September 1886 – 7 June 1966), better known as Jean Arp in English, was a German-French sculptor, painter, and poet. He was known as a Dadaist and an abstract artist. Early life Arp was born in Straßburg (now Stras ...

, and

Alberto Giacometti Alberto Giacometti (, , ; 10 October 1901 – 11 January 1966) was a Swiss sculptor, painter, draftsman and printmaker. Beginning in 1922, he lived and worked mainly in Paris but regularly visited his hometown Borgonovo to see his family and ...

, artists he later worked with as an artist assistant. In 1949, he moved to Chicago, Illinois to work as a teacher of the first year foundation studies at

IIT Institute of Design Institute of Design (ID) at the Illinois Institute of Technology (Illinois Tech), founded as the New Bauhaus, is a graduate school teaching systemic, human-centered design. History The Institute of Design at Illinois Tech is a school of design ...

, replacing Laszlo Moholy‐Nagy. Weber's students include artist

June Leaf June Leaf (born 1929) is an American artist known for her abstract allegorical paintings and drawings; she also works in modernist kinetic sculpture. She is based in New York City and Mabou, Nova Scotia. Biography June Leaf was born in 1929 ...

and designer

Richard Schultz Moses Richard Schultz (September 22, 1926September 28, 2021) was an American furniture designer. He was responsible for several iconic and notable creations in the 1950s–1990s through his firm Richard Schultz Design, Inc.. Biography Moses R ...

. He worked collaboratively with

Emerson Woelffer Emerson Seville Woelffer (July 27, 1914 – February 2, 2003) was an American artist and arts educator. He was known as a prominent abstract expressionist artist and painter and taught art at some of the most prestigious colleges and universities ...

from IIT, in designing the Chicago-based Jazz Ltd. building's avant-garde room. From 1955 until 1960, Weber lived in Paris, then moved to New York City. In New York, he befriended many of the second generation New York Abstract Expressionist artists, and he grew interest in beat poetry and writing. Weber was a

gestural A gesture is a form of non-verbal communication or non-vocal communication in which visible bodily actions communicate particular messages, either in place of, or in conjunction with, speech. Gestures include movement of the hands, face, or ...

artist, but he was not rooted from American Action Painting like many of the others of the New York School of American

Abstract Expressionism Abstract expressionism is a post–World War II art movement in American painting, developed in New York City in the 1940s. It was the first specifically American movement to achieve international influence and put New York at the center of the ...

but rather from the European "''style informel".'' He created two films highlighting his process as an artist, ''Vision in Flux'' (1951), and ''Process Documentation by the Painter'' (1954). In February and March of 1964, Weber created lithographs at

Tamarind Institute Tamarind Institute is a lithography workshop created in 1970 as a division of the University of New Mexico in Albuquerque, NM, United States. It began as Tamarind Lithography Workshop, a California non-profit corporation founded by June Wayne on T ...

with master printer

Irwin Hollander Irwin Hollander (1927–2018) was an American artist and master printmaker, based in New York City. He helped revive lithography as a fine art around the 1960s. He had a printing studio called Hollander’s Workshop. Biography Born 30 November ...

. He died 15 August 1971 at the age 53, in New York City after a short illness. His work is in various public art collections including

Smithsonian American Art Museum The Smithsonian American Art Museum (commonly known as SAAM, and formerly the National Museum of American Art) is a museum in Washington, D.C., part of the Smithsonian Institution. Together with its branch museum, the Renwick Gallery, SAAM holds o ...

National Gallery of Art The National Gallery of Art, and its attached Sculpture Garden, is a national art museum in Washington, D.C., United States, located on the National Mall, between 3rd and 9th Streets, at Constitution Avenue NW. Open to the public and free of char ...

Art Institute of Chicago The Art Institute of Chicago in Chicago's Grant Park, founded in 1879, is one of the oldest and largest art museums in the world. Recognized for its curatorial efforts and popularity among visitors, the museum hosts approximately 1.5 mill ...

, and others. Weber's

bust Bust commonly refers to: * A woman's breasts * Bust (sculpture), of head and shoulders * An arrest Bust may also refer to: Places *Bust, Bas-Rhin, a city in France *Lashkargah, Afghanistan, known as Bust historically Media * ''Bust'' (magazine ...

portrait in bronze of his friend, architect

Mies van der Rohe Ludwig Mies van der Rohe ( ; ; born Maria Ludwig Michael Mies; March 27, 1886August 17, 1969) was a German-American architect. He was commonly referred to as Mies, his surname. Along with Alvar Aalto, Le Corbusier, Walter Gropius and Frank Lloyd ...

is in the Crown Hall of IIT Campus.

Bibliography

References

External links

Hugo Weber papers, 1932-1971
from

Archives of American Art The Archives of American Art is the largest collection of primary resources documenting the history of the visual arts in the United States. More than 20 million items of original material are housed in the Archives' research centers in Washingt ...

, Smithsonian Institution {{Authority control 1918 births 1971 deaths Artists from New York City Artists from Chicago Swiss emigrants to the United States University of Basel alumni Illinois Institute of Technology faculty