Art Is a Powerful Language: Willard Hirsch—The Man, the Artist

Compiled by Jane Elizabeth Hirsch

ISBN: 978-0-9845580-4-9
10×10, 78 pages, paper

This book is a collection of essays about sculptor Willard Hirsch, whose artwork can be found throughout South Carolina and beyond. It is the only volume available that is dedicated solely to the artwork of William Hirsch. It accompanied a well-reviewed retrospective exhibition of Hirsch’s work at the Gibbes Museum of Art (Charleston) and Brookgreen Gardens (Pawley’s Island).

Willard Hirsch (1905-1982) was Charleston’s premier sculptor of the twentieth century. He was remarkably versatile, working on a wide range of subjects, from Biblical themes to whimsy, and in such varied media as wood, terra-cotta, bronze, fiberglass, and steel. Today, his sculptures can be found throughout the country, but especially in his native South Carolina.

This volume, compiled by his daughter Jane Hirsch, presents an inside view of the man and his art. Essays by noted art historian Martha R. Severens, family members, friends, and students show Willard Hirsch’s humor, his firm standards, and his enormous creativity. His artwork is widely known. Now the man, too, can take his place among South Carolina’s most admired artists.