Herbert Ferber (born
Herbert Ferber Silvers, April 30, 1906 – August 20, 1991) was an American sculptor and painter, born in
New York CityNew York is the most populous city in the United States, and the center of the New York metropolitan area, which is among the most populous urban areas in the world. A leading global city, New York exerts a powerful influence over worldwide commerce, finance, culture, fashion and entertainment...
. He began his independent artistic studies in New York in 1926 at evening classes at the
Beaux-Arts Institute of DesignThe Beaux-Arts Institute of Design was an art and architectural school at 304 East 44th Street in the Turtle Bay area of Manhattan, New York City, New York, founded in 1916 with the goal of training American architects, sculptors and mural painters consistent with the educational agenda of the...
, while attending Columbia University Dental School. In 1930, he attended the
National Academy of DesignThe National Academy Museum and School of Fine Arts, founded in New York City as the National Academy of Design—known simply as the "National Academy"—is an honorary association of American artists, with a museum and a school of fine arts....
, and that summer he was awarded a scholarship to work at
The Louis Comfort Tiffany FoundationThe Louis Comfort Tiffany Foundation was founded in 1918 by Louis Comfort Tiffany to operate his estate, Laurelton Hall, in Cold Spring Harbor, Long Island. It was designed to be a summer retreat for artists and craftspeople...
in Oyster Bay, New York.
Herbert Ferber (born
Herbert Ferber Silvers, April 30, 1906 – August 20, 1991) was an American sculptor and painter, born in
New York CityNew York is the most populous city in the United States, and the center of the New York metropolitan area, which is among the most populous urban areas in the world. A leading global city, New York exerts a powerful influence over worldwide commerce, finance, culture, fashion and entertainment...
. He began his independent artistic studies in New York in 1926 at evening classes at the
Beaux-Arts Institute of DesignThe Beaux-Arts Institute of Design was an art and architectural school at 304 East 44th Street in the Turtle Bay area of Manhattan, New York City, New York, founded in 1916 with the goal of training American architects, sculptors and mural painters consistent with the educational agenda of the...
, while attending Columbia University Dental School. In 1930, he attended the
National Academy of DesignThe National Academy Museum and School of Fine Arts, founded in New York City as the National Academy of Design—known simply as the "National Academy"—is an honorary association of American artists, with a museum and a school of fine arts....
, and that summer he was awarded a scholarship to work at
The Louis Comfort Tiffany FoundationThe Louis Comfort Tiffany Foundation was founded in 1918 by Louis Comfort Tiffany to operate his estate, Laurelton Hall, in Cold Spring Harbor, Long Island. It was designed to be a summer retreat for artists and craftspeople...
in Oyster Bay, New York. He also began part-time work as a dentist. Impressed by African sculpture, he purchased his first piece of African art in 1931. Ferber received his dentistry degree in 1930, and, until the 1950s, he maintained two careers, as Abstract expressionist sculptor and dentist.
Ferber's best-known sculptures are open, hollow forms in soldered and welded metal. While abstract, their titles and spiky forms often suggest forces in conflict. ('Labors of Hercules' is an example). By the mid-1950s, he began to create, what he called, roofed sculptures―some parts of which hung from the ceiling while other parts rose from the floor. These were followed by so-called cage works―large, boxy forms within which other forms were set. With Sculpture as Environment exhibition (1961), Ferber created an installation executed in fiberglass for a room at the
Whitney Museum of American ArtThe Whitney Museum of American Art, often referred to simply as "the Whitney", is an art museum with a focus on 20th- and 21st-century American art. Located at 945 Madison Avenue at 75th Street in New York City, the Whitney's permanent collection contains more than 18,000 works in a wide variety of...
in New York City, opening up the interior space of the work for the viewer to enter. In the 1970s, Ferber continued his exploration of abstract form, mostly in large-scale outdoor pieces. He died in 1991 in North Egremont, Massachusetts.
The
Albright-Knox Art GalleryThe Albright-Knox Art Gallery is a major showplace for modern art and contemporary art located on Delaware Park in Buffalo, New York. It is located directly across the street from Buffalo State College.-History:...
(Buffalo, New York), the Cantor Arts Center (Stanford University, Palo Alto, California),
The Contemporary Museum, HonoluluThe Contemporary Museum, Honolulu is the only museum in the state of Hawaii devoted exclusively to contemporary art. It provides an accessible forum for provocative, dynamic forms of visual art, offering interaction with art and artists in a unique island environment...
(Hawaii), the
Dallas Museum of ArtThe Dallas Museum of Art is an art museum located in the Arts District of downtown Dallas, Texas, USA along Woodall Rodgers Freeway between St. Paul and Harwood.- History :...
(Dallas, Texas), the
National Gallery of ArtThe National Gallery of Art is a national art museum, located on the National Mall in Washington, D.C. The museum was established in 1938 by the United States Congress, with funds for construction and a substantial art collection donated by Andrew W. Mellon plus major art works donated by Lessing J...
(Washington, D. C.), the Neuberger Museum of Art (Purchase College, Purchase, New York), The Empire State Collection (Empire State Building, New York City), the
Newark MuseumThe Newark Museum is the largest museum in New Jersey, USA. It holds fine collections of American art, decorative arts, contemporary art, and arts of Asia, Africa, the Americas, and the ancient world...
(Newark, New Jersey), the
Saint Louis Art MuseumThe Saint Louis Art Museum is one of the principal U.S. art museums, visited by up to a half million people every year. Admission is free.Located in Forest Park in St. Louis Missouri, the museum's three-story building was built as the Palace of the Fine Arts for the 1904 World's Fair, also known as...
(St. Louis, Missouri), the
Whitney Museum of American ArtThe Whitney Museum of American Art, often referred to simply as "the Whitney", is an art museum with a focus on 20th- and 21st-century American art. Located at 945 Madison Avenue at 75th Street in New York City, the Whitney's permanent collection contains more than 18,000 works in a wide variety of...
(New York City) and the
Yale University Art GalleryThe Yale University Art Gallery houses a significant and encyclopedic collection of art in several buildings on the campus of Yale University in New Haven, Connecticut. Although it embraces all cultures and periods, the Gallery possesses especially renowned collections of early Italian painting,...
(New Haven, Connecticut) are among the public collections holding works by Herbert Ferber.
Books
External links