Hyper-Realist Sculture Like the broader Photorealism movement, hyperrealist figurative sculpture grew out of the Pop impulses of the 1950s and ‘60s. Duane Hanson and John De Andrea, among others, sought to challenge established notions of which subjects were or were not worthy of serious artistic study. Just as Warhol and Lichtenstein had done before them, these sculptors drew attention to the uneventful, everyday encounters of an increasingly commercialized culture. Critics saw this “revival of illusionism” as a degradation of Minimalism’s aesthetic accomplishments. Many of their arguments stressed the incompatibility of the ‘honest’ artistic inquiry with this new breed of direct imitation. While their specific attacks were tailored to the period, their overall contention was nothing new. Disputes over the value of imitation stretch back to the days of antiquity. The French sculptor Alexandre Falguière was the first artist to truly blur “the boundaries between life-casting and sculpture.” Falguière spurred outrage in 1896 when he debuted a nude cast of a dancer at the Paris Salon. His piece was labeled obscene and immoral for publicly exhibiting Cléo de Mérode’s naked figure, an accusation which had never been levied against the thousands of sculpted nudes that had preceded it. This voyeuristic tinge is precisely what ignites viewer fascination with hyperrealist sculptures. Leading hyperrealist Duane Hanson cast his figures using polyresin, bronze, or fiberglass. Setting his work apart from previous examples of this method, Hanson then painstakingly painted his figures to capture life-like imperfections and intricacies. Deconstructed clothing would then be reassembled on the figure and treated to specifically accommodate the world-weary attitudes that Hanson sought to capture.
164 DUANE HANSON
Beagle in a Basket
163 DUANE HANSON Policeman
1992-1994 Bronze, polychromed in oil, and mixed-media with accessories #2 of 3 Together with copy of original invoice from O’Hara Gallery dated January 16, 2001 71" x 21.5" x 15" (180 x 55 x 38 cm)
1990 Polychromed bronze, polyester cushion with acrylic filling, and basket #4 of unknown edition size Signed twice and dated with edition to underside of beagle 6.5" x 22" x 16" (17 x 56 x 41 cm) PROV EN A N C E Private Collection, Florida (acquired directly from the artist); James Goodman Gallery, New York, New York (acquired directly from the above); Christie’s, New York,
P ROVENA NC E O’Hara Gallery, New York, New York
New York, February 28, 2007, lot 261 L I TERATU R E Duane Hanson: More
ILLUSTRAT E D Duane Hanson: More
Than Reality. T. Buchsteiner and O.
Than Reality. T. Buchsteiner and O.
Letze, eds. 2001. #68/1 for a similar
Letze, eds. 2001. #104/2.
example illustrated.
$200,000–$300,000
$35,000–$45,000
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