DAVID L. HOSTETLER
SCULPTOR
| WHO: | David L. Hostetler |
WHAT:
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A wood carver and bronze sculptor of works capturing the female
form, he is also a professor emeritus of Ohio University. His art career spans more
than 55 years, progressing from folk images to stylized forms. In addition to the art
and academic worlds, he has explored farming, founding an art museum, drumming
in a jazz band and collecting Americana. His works appear in more than 25 museums
and galleries, including the Museum of Fine Arts in Boston, the Milwaukee Museum
and the Butler Institute of American Art in Youngstown, Ohio. Pieces in public
collections can be found from Nantucket and New Mexico to the Netherlands. |
WHERE: |
Hostetler and his wife, Susan Crehan Hostetler, live on a 40-acre
farm outside Athens, Ohio during the winter months and in Nantucket, Mass.,
during the summer, where they own a gallery and where he plays drums in his
own jazz band. P.O. Box 989, Athens, OH 45701; (740) 593-8180 P.O. Box 2222, Nantucket, MA 02584; Gallery (508) 228-5152; Studio (508) 228-3117. Email: Susan at DavidHostetler.com Web Page: www.davidhostetler.com |
WHEN: |
Born in Beach City, Ohio on December 27, 1926, his roots are Amish. Hostetler received his art degree from Indiana University in 1948 and in 1949, a Master's of Fine Arts from Ohio University, where he taught for 38 years. His career includes guest teaching and lecturing throughout the United States and Mexico. He retired as a full professor of sculpture from Ohio University in 1985. Some of his students who have gone on to fame include Jim Dine, whose work has been collected and exhibited internationally since 1960; David True, an artist who has exhibited at the Whitney Biennial and who now teaches at Columbia University; Harvey Breverman, a well-known painter and printmaker; Glenn Randall, a leader in the field of English antiques; and Dianne Perry Vanderlip, a curator of contemporary art at the Denver Art Museum. Hostetler first entered the artistic world by accident. During World War II, while
studying as an engineer in the Army, he suffered a shrapnel wound in the leg during a
training exercise in California. While recuperating for six months, he became interested
in art after receiving drawing materials from a Red Cross volunteer. This marked
Hostetler's epiphany. |
| HOW: | Hostetler works with indigenous hardwoods including elm, cherry, catalpa, white oak, walnut and
maple as well as exotic woods of purpleheart, ziricote and pink ivory, in addition to bronze. |
WHY:   |
"My life centers around artful choices, the life rhythms, shapes and spaces and their infinite combinations. My lover, my nest, carving on a log, drumming, woodland meditation and archery are involved. The coming together of art, rhythm, forms and space can be magic. The quest for this magic gives my life purpose and provides my joy of being." "My sculpture is woman with the mark of the present and the past cultures on her. Timeless woman as an object, a goddess, angular, sensual, stylized; but always filled with grace and vitality that is woman. Woman to me is the ideal form, erotic yet pure, compositionary variable, yet identical every time." "My medium is wood. Wood appeals to my close affinity with nature and things organic. Wood is a magic material, alive and working organic, and never completely at rest." "My 51-year art career has been a continuous quest of the nature of woman. It has led me from the contemporary woman as mother, wife, nurturer, to vamp, seductress and queen. Now the journey harkens to the pre-biblical period, to ancient civilizations of women-centered societies. My focus is the Near East with Minoan, Cretin and Cycladic imagery. Their ascendancy was from 12,000 to 500 BC." "The goddess represents the all-encompassing power of woman, the manifestation of humanity as a part of a whole, part of the cosmos and part of nature; an image that men and woman can embrace equally. Among all goddesses, Asherah is my inspiration, for it is she who was carved from living trees as well as the image of the tree of life. This goddess is the embodiment of my passion for wood and all that is woman." "I want to resurrect the Goddess Asherah and the goddess within all of us through my art. The goddess is
a symbol of empowerment for woman that men will not resent or fear for it is a metaphor for earth as a living
organism, an archetype for a balanced feminine consciousness that encompasses men and women as equals.
Maybe this is a search for the strength of women in all of us." |
NOTABLE: |
Hostetler's piece The Duo is in a pocket park at Trump International Hotel & Tower in New York City. Commissioned by Philip Johnson, Donald Trump and Lizanne Galbreath, the rough-textured bronze depicts two slender figures, seemingly growing out of trees and touching at the arms. It honors the late Ohio real estate developer and philanthropist Dan Galbreath, Lizanne's father, and Trump's partner in the hotel and tower. Galbreath was a Hostetler collector. Grounds for Sculpture commissioned Summertime Lady, an eleven-foot bronze, to grace the front of the museum that marks the entrance to the sculpture park. The painted and polished bronze figure with Ferrari red dress and BMW black hair. Summertime Lady is an example of the painted bronzes Hostetler has created using the high quality car paint, glazurit. At age 78, Hostetler embarks on a new direction in his woodcarving that is inspired by the Anasazi American Indians of the southwest. Painting combined with sculptures are another avenue he is exploring.
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SELECTED BOOKS: Hostetler the Carver, Ohio University Press Masters of Wood Carving, Watson-Guptill American Craftsmen, National Geographic Society Contemporary Art with Wood, Crown Publishers SELECTED PUBLIC COLLECTIONS: Trump International Hotel & Tower, New York, N.Y. Boston Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, Mass. Kennedy Library, Boston, Mass. Butler Institute of American Art, Ohio Columbus Museum of Art, Columbus, Ohio Milwaukee Museum, Milwaukee, Wis. Speed Museum, Louisville, KY Montgomery Museum of Fine Art, Alabama |
David Hostetler is the creator of a series of original and captivating works in wood and bronze that honor and celebrate the female form. Inspired by goddesses and celebrated women of historical significance, Hostetler has based his entire life's work on capturing the spirit, romance and earthiness of "the feminine" in exotic woods and in bronze. Whether revealing the sensuousness of the female figure or rendering visible the gift of feminine intuition, Hostetler's works are moving, intriguing and a pleasure to touch and to see.
David Hostetler has been a celebrated American wood carver and bronze sculptor for over 50 years. His works appear in more than 25 museums and galleries, including the Museum of Fine Arts in Boston, the Milwaukee Museum, and the Butler Institute of American Art in Youngstown, Ohio. His pieces grace numerous public collections from Nantucket to New Mexico to the Netherlands.
Hostetler's most recent installation was commissioned by Donald Trump, Lizanne Galbreath and Philip Johnson as a memorial to Ohio real estate developer and philanthropist Dan Galbreath, who was a partner in Trump International Hotel and Tower in New York City. Galbreath was a friend to Hostetler and a collector of his sculptures. The 13 foot outdoor sculpture, "The Duo," was dedicated this past July and is installed at Columbus Circle overlooking Broadway. A rough textured bronze, "The Duo" depicts two slender figures touching at the arms and seemingly grown from trees. The work was originally conceived as a tribute by the artist to his wife.
Hostetler has earned wide acclaim for his unique treatment of the feminine form, his "women." Most of his pieces begin as wood carvings, with bronze versions cast directly from the wood. In the '60s, he gained national prominence with his American Woman Series - graceful, flowing wood sculptures. He initiated the series using indigenous hardwoods (elm, white oak, walnut, maple), then progressed from folk images to stylized symbols in exotic woods (purpleheart, ziricote and pink ivory). Celebrated photographer Yousuf Karsh created a unique portrait of Hostetler surrounded by his "women." His artwork has been featured in films, on television and in newspapers and magazines.
Born in Ohio in 1926, Hostetler had a close relationship with his Amish grandfather, an influence which has stayed with him throughout his career. He was raised in a small Ohio town and went on to receive his Bachelor of Arts in Education from Indiana University. He obtained a Master's of Fine Arts from Ohio University, where he taught for thirty-eight years as a much appreciated professor and mentor and where he was named Professor Emeritus. Hostetler's career has included guest teaching and lecturing throughout the United States and Mexico. His students include a number of accomplished artists such as Jim Dine and others.
Although Hostetler is renowned as a sculptor, his experience is indeed diverse. He trained
as an engineer, worked as a farmer and a salesman, owned his own commercial pottery factory
and created an art commune. His long time appreciation of the great Jewish philosophers has
inspired his interest in the Jewish faith, philosophy and way of life, and at the age of 69, Hostetler
began studying to convert to Judaism. He has a deep love of music and currently plays drums
in his own jazz band in Nantucket (MA), where he and his wife, Susan, also own a gallery. In winter,
the Hostetlers live in Athens, Ohio.