Herbert Ferber

The American sculptor Herbert Ferber created large-scale, abstract, site-specific works, many of which remain landmarks of public art. Ferber trained as a dentist while attending night classes in drawing and sculpture. A lifelong New Yorker, he was active in the avant-garde art scene of the 1940s and 1950s, often associating with other artists and intellectuals. As Ferber’s work evolved, he moved from sculpting in wood to experimenting with welded metal, creating massive assemblages of intersecting biomorphic shapes designed to engage viewers with both the sculptures and the spaces surrounding them. Ferber received several commissions over the course of his career to design metalwork and installations for synagogues and other buildings.