Biography

Christopher Wilmarth (American, 1943–1987) is best known for his expressive glass and wooden sculptures, created in an abstracted Minimalist idiom. Wilmarth was born in Sonoma, CA, and worked as an assistant to sculptor Tony Smith (American, 1912–1980) before attending the Cooper Union in New York, and graduating with a BFA in 1965. He began teaching at the Cooper Union in 1969, and later taught sculpture at Columbia University. Wilmarth first created works in wood, but preferred sculpting with glass plates and metal. He enjoyed experimenting with the illusory properties of glass, manipulating the shape and the thickness of glass elements to play with the luminosity and opacity of the material, and frequently created sculptures with sparse geometric forms.