Christopher Wilmarth Drawing into Sculpture Edward Saywell

Christopher Wilmarth (1943-1987), an American artist best known for his expressive sculptures constructed from plate glass and steel, was also an innovative draftsman. This text focuses on Wilmarth's use of drawing throughout his career, offering insights into his artistic practice and poetic personal vision. Edward Saywell considers three aspects of Wilmarth's drawings: his student and early works; the remarkable crossover that he made between two- and three-dimensional works in a series of drawings constructed from etched glass and steel cables done in the early 1970s; and the independent drawings he made directly after or during the construction of his sculptures as a means to think through completed work and to look forward to new creative ideas. Saywell also draws on materials such as sketchbooks, preparatory maquettes, and letters selected from the Christopher Wilmarth Archive and presented to the Fogg Art Museum by Susan Wilmarth-Rabineau, in order to shed new light on Wilmarth's working process.

Edward Saywell is Charles C. Cunningham Sr. Curatorial Associate, Department of Drawings, Fogg Art Museum.