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Arne Westerman’s painting “Point of the Law” depicts a discussion with a rebbe.
Arne Westerman
Arne Westerman’s canvas reflects the human face and form,
and through his paintings every fleeting expression is held for
eternity.
Eternity was not far from the Portland artist’s mind when he
started painting at 50. “I felt life sort of ebbing, and I figured if I
could paint, then my paintings would be on the wall long after I
had stopped painting,” he says.
Westerman’s works belong to permanent collections across the
nation, and private collectors around the world have brought him
the rare success that allows him to be wholly devoted to his art.
“I always loved to draw as a kid,” says Westerman, who grew
up in Old South Portland. “But I graduated from the University
of Oregon in journalism, and … I eventually wound up with an
advertising agency. I didn’t do art until I decided I didn’t want to
be in the advertising business any more.”
Westerman then took a class in watercolors with Portland
artist George Hamilton.
“His stuff was just so beautiful,” said Westerman. “He did
landscapes. And so I started doing landscapes, and I realized
that I really loved people, I love being around them, so I started
doing paintings of people. I paint people from all walks of life,
from street people to dancers to people doing whatever they do.”
Westerman credits Robert Kaller of the Galerie DeTours in
Carmel, CA, for being the first to actively promote his paintings.
“He got me into museums and that sort of thing,” says
Westerman.
Westerman’s work is in the permanent collections of the
Portland Art Museum, the Arnot Art Museum in New York,
the Neville Public Museum in Wisconsin, the De Saisset
Museum in Santa Clara, CA, the Huntsville Museum of Art in
Huntsville, AL, and many others.
He is affiliated with the Attic Gallery in Portland, the New
Masters Gallery in Carmel, CA, and the Austin Street Gallery
in Rockport, TX, and has annual solo shows in all three. He has
won grand prizes in juried shows throughout the country.
Portraits of Eastern European Jews of the ’20s, ’30s and
’40s, drawn from memories of Old South Portland, are among
Westerman’s Jewish subjects, though he says, “I treat everything
with Jewish eyes. … I think I’m sensitive to people, to pain or
unhappiness or joy; I think that’s very Jewish.”
Raised in an Orthodox family, Westerman attended Portland
Hebrew School. “I had to,” he explains. “Jerry Stern and I
got out of Shattuck School one day and Harold and Leonard
18 JULY 2012 | OREGON JEWISH LIFE