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Another Day

Artist: Duane Hanson (American, 1925-1996)
Date: 1971
Dimensions:
Lifesize
Medium: polyester resin and fiberglass, oil paint, mixed media, with accessories
Classification: Sculpture
Credit Line: Museum Purchase
Object number: 2004.19A-C
Label Text:“What can generate more interest, fascination, beauty, ugliness, joy, shock or contempt than a human being?”—Duane Hanson

With figures cast directly from life and wearing actual articles of clothing, Duane Hanson’s sculptures often shock viewers with their seemingly living presence. Hanson’s virtuosity with artist’s materials, coupled with the inclusion of accoutrements from “real life,” ensures the startling illusion of his creations. The Executive was conceived as a portrait of an actual New York real estate executive, Melvyn Kaufman, and was originally located in the busy lobby of one of his family’s high-rises. There it created a frenzy of interest, with passers-by frequently trying to interact with the figure, sometimes endangering the well being of the sculpture.

Like the slouched, dispirited Executive, Hanson’s subjects are “Everyman” types. They often appear to be in repose, or engaged in introspection, lonely or exhausted, suggesting a commentary on the alienation or ennui of contemporary life. As Hanson explained, “It's the human attitudes I’m after—fatigue, a bit of frustration, rejection. To me there is a kind of beauty in all this.”
Not on view
In Collection(s)