Abstract Form No. 1
By Emerson Woelffer
Located in Columbia, MO
EMERSON WOELFFER Abstract Form No. 1 1979 Porcelain on wooden plinth 3.5 x 3.5 x 11.5 inches
Category
20th Century Abstract Emerson Woelffer Sculptures
Materials
Wood
Emerson Woelffer Sculptures
American, 1914-2003
Once dubbed “the Grandfather of L.A. Modernism,” the Chicago-born Emerson Seville Woelffer was active as an innovative painter, collagist, and educator throughout his long and prolific career. A pioneering Abstract Expressionist, Woelffer’s brightly colored work with jagged forms reveals Cubist and Surrealist influences.
Coming of age in Chicago during the Great Depression, Woelffer appreciated the improvisational nature of jazz music, a sensibility he would later apply to painting through gestural variation, energetic strokes, and a rhythmic use of line. From 1935 to 1938, Woelffer, a high school dropout, studied at the Art Institute of Chicago while employed as a janitor, early evidence of his enduring work ethic.
He joined the Works Progress Administration arts program in 1938 as an easel painter, followed by a two-year stint as a topographical draftsman for the United States Air Force. The director of the Chicago Institute of Design, László Moholy-Nagy, invited Woelffer to join the faculty in 1942. His experiences there brought him into contact with the modernist idiom of the day, and his interactions with students caused him to re-examine his own practice.
He also exhibited in group shows at the Guggenheim Museum in New York, participated in the Whitney Museum Annual (1949) and won the Pauline Palmer Prize for painting at the Art Institute of Chicago (1948).
In 1949 Emerson Woelffer and his wife Dina, a fine art photographer, were invited by Jackson Pollock and Lee Krasner to New York before they headed to Mexico’s Yucatán Peninsula. Exposure to Pre-Columbian art led Woelffer to incorporate totemic figures and vibrant colors into his abstract paintings.
In 1959 Woelffer joined the faculty at the Chouinard Art Institute (later the California Institute of the Arts) in Los Angeles, where he instructed notable emerging artists until 1973 and where he was instrumental in bringing Modernism to LA. Ed Ruscha was one of his students. In 1974, Woelffer was named chair of the art department at the Otis Art Institute (now the Otis School of Art and Design). His tenure lasted until his retirement in 1989, and he was widely admired for his interdisciplinary approach in the classroom. An endowed scholarship fund in his name provides support for promising young artists and designers. Suffering from macular degeneration, Woelffer switched to drawing with white crayon on black paper in his final years of artistic activity.
Emerson won a prestigious Guggenheim Foundation Fellowship in 1967 and then went to wprk in Europe. Woelffer’s work is represented in the collections of such distinguished institutions as the Smithsonian American Art Museum, the National Gallery of Art, and the Museum of Modern Art, among others.to
2
Overall Width
to
Overall Height
to
2
2
2
1
1
11
213
213
158
128
2
Artist: Emerson Woelffer
Abstract Form No. 2
By Emerson Woelffer
Located in Columbia, MO
EMERSON WOELFFER Abstract Form No. 2 1979 Terra cotta on wooden plinth 3.5 x 5.5 x 8.5 inches
Category
20th Century Abstract Emerson Woelffer Sculptures
Materials
Wood, Terracotta
Related Items
Zlata KornilovaClose to Heart 1 & 2 - Wood sculpture by Zlata Kornilova, circa 2022
$6,139
H 28.75 in Dm 13.39 in
Close to Heart 1 & 2 - Wood sculpture by Zlata Kornilova
Located in Paris, FR
Sculpture Close to Heart 1 & 2 Limited edition of 12 (each sculpture) Dimensions: - Close to heart 1 (black): H. 73. x D. 34 cm - Close to heart 2 (natural): H. 82. x D. 22 cm Medi...
Category
21st Century and Contemporary Abstract Emerson Woelffer Sculptures
Materials
Steel
Delphine BrabantUnion III by Delphine Brabant - abstract terracotta sculpture, intertwining, 2024
$3,970
H 13.78 in W 7.49 in D 3.94 in
Union III by Delphine Brabant - abstract terracotta sculpture, intertwining
By Delphine Brabant
Located in Paris, FR
Union III is a sculpture by contemporary French artist Delphine Brabant from the “Unity” series. In this artwork, the elements of the composition are juxtaposed on each other, creati...
Category
2010s Abstract Geometric Emerson Woelffer Sculptures
Materials
Terracotta
Vera VizziTextural Seascape Mixed-Media Wall Sculpture in Modeling Clay and Acrylic Blue, 2025
$1,175Sale Price|20% Off
H 1.97 in Dm 19.69 in
Textural Seascape Mixed-Media Wall Sculpture in Modeling Clay and Acrylic Blue
By Vera Vizzi
Located in FISTERRA, ES
Mixed-media wall sculpture in modeling clay and acrylic on wood, a textural seascape in intense blue tones where layered bas-relief waves open a perceptual passage across a circular ...
Category
2010s Abstract Emerson Woelffer Sculptures
Materials
Enamel
Paula MurraySanctuary 43 - Wall-Mounted Porcelain Sculpture, Abstract, 21st Century, 2025
$3,800
H 19 in W 43.5 in D 8 in
Sanctuary 43 - Wall-Mounted Porcelain Sculpture, Abstract, 21st Century
By Paula Murray
Located in Bloomfield, ON
This wall-mounted ceramic sculpture is by award-winning Canadian artist Paula Murray. In her Quebec studio, ceramic artist Paula Murray uses her own recipe for porcelain clay that s...
Category
21st Century and Contemporary Abstract Emerson Woelffer Sculptures
Materials
Porcelain, Wood
Vera VizziGALAXY ART – Celestial Wall Sculpture with Astronaut Figure on Lunar Relief, 2025
$853Sale Price|20% Off
H 0.79 in Dm 11.82 in
GALAXY ART – Celestial Wall Sculpture with Astronaut Figure on Lunar Relief
By Vera Vizzi
Located in FISTERRA, ES
GALAXY ART is a mixed media wall sculpture by Vera Vizzi that fuses astronomy-inspired painting with tactile lunar relief. Created with foam clay, acrylic and enamel on a circular 30...
Category
2010s Abstract Emerson Woelffer Sculptures
Materials
Enamel
Untitled
Located in Phoenix, AZ
ceramic and wood Tetsuya Yamada (b. 1968, Tokyo) studied traditional Japanese ceramics before moving to the USA in 1994. He received his MFA from Alfred University in 1997 and is cu...
Category
21st Century and Contemporary Abstract Emerson Woelffer Sculptures
Materials
Ceramic, Wood
Zlata KornilovaClose to Heart 2 - Wood sculpture by Zlata Kornilova, circa 2024
$3,069
H 32.29 in Dm 8.67 in
Close to Heart 2 - Wood sculpture by Zlata Kornilova
Located in Paris, FR
Sculpture Close to Heart 2 Limited edition of 12 Mediums: old pine, steel, acrylic hand painted, oil CLOSE TO HEART - Collection Working on the series I used a “wood with history”...
Category
21st Century and Contemporary Abstract Emerson Woelffer Sculptures
Materials
Steel
Spillway
Located in Lincoln, RI
Spillway is a low relief, bent laminated, wall-hung sculpture made from ash veneer and formed using a vacuums technique. The shapes mimic two bodies of water connecting through a "s...
Category
Early 2000s Abstract Emerson Woelffer Sculptures
Materials
Wood
Jane B. GrimmAll That Jazz XXI / ceramic wall sculpture - cream, white, neutral 36 x 36 in, 2020
$5,500
H 36 in W 36 in D 1.5 in
All That Jazz XXI / ceramic wall sculpture - cream, white, neutral 36 x 36 in
By Jane B. Grimm
Located in Burlingame, CA
Minimal Abstract Ceramic 36 x 36 inch wall sculpture in glossy and matte white ceramic tiles that are mounted to a white wood panel. A neutral work showcasing an "X" in matte white s...
Category
21st Century and Contemporary Abstract Emerson Woelffer Sculptures
Materials
Ceramic, Wood, Paint
Louise NevelsonUntitled, Collage abstract expressionistic wooden collage, monochrome black, 1976-78
$26,072
H 77.17 in W 46.3 in D 2.64 in
Untitled, Collage abstract expressionistic wooden collage, monochrome black
By Louise Nevelson
Located in Zug, CH
Nevelson’s compositions explore the relational possibilities of sculpture and space, summing up the objectification of the external world into a personal landscape. Although her prac...
Category
20th Century Abstract Expressionist Emerson Woelffer Sculptures
Materials
Wood
Vera VizziMoon Relief with Yellow Measure Tape Abstract Surreal Mixed-Media Wall Sculpture, 2025
$900Sale Price|20% Off
H 1.58 in Dm 11.82 in
Moon Relief with Yellow Measure Tape Abstract Surreal Mixed-Media Wall Sculpture
By Vera Vizzi
Located in FISTERRA, ES
Foam clay, acrylic and enamel on fir wood circular relief that combines lunar bas-relief with a measured, stitched yellow band; a mixed-media wall sculpture engaging lunar topography...
Category
2010s Abstract Emerson Woelffer Sculptures
Materials
Enamel
Pablo PicassoPicasso Ceramic, Trois poissons sur fond gris (A.R. 396), 1957
$42,664
H 16.26 in Dm 16.26 in
Picasso Ceramic, Trois poissons sur fond gris (A.R. 396)
By Pablo Picasso
Located in Madrid, ES
PABLO PICASSO (1881-1973) Trois poissons sur fond gris (A.R. 396) stamped, marked and numbered 'Edition Picasso / Madoura Plein Feu / N 106 / Edition Picasso / 80/175' (underneath) t...
Category
1950s Modern Emerson Woelffer Sculptures
Materials
Terracotta
Emerson Woelffer sculptures for sale on 1stDibs.
Find a wide variety of authentic Emerson Woelffer sculptures available for sale on 1stDibs. You can also browse by medium to find art by Emerson Woelffer in wood, ceramic, terracotta and more. Much of the original work by this artist or collective was created during the 20th century and is mostly associated with the abstract style. Not every interior allows for large Emerson Woelffer sculptures, so small editions measuring 4 inches across are available. Customers who are interested in this artist might also find the work of Varujan Boghosian, Sally Hepler, and Thomas Lendvai. Emerson Woelffer sculptures prices can differ depending upon medium, time period and other attributes. On 1stDibs, the price for these items starts at $6,240 and tops out at $6,240, while the average work can sell for $6,240.