Another Day

Artist Duane Hanson (American, 1925-1996)

Date1971

DimensionsLifesize

Mediumpolyester resin and fiberglass, oil paint, mixed media, with accessories

ClassificationSculpture

Credit LineMuseum Purchase

Object number

2004.19A-C

Not on View

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.”Published ReferencesBuchsteiner, Thomas and Otto Letze, eds., Duane Hanson More than Reality, New York, 2001, repr. (col.) pg. 35, no. 19.

Toledo Museum of Art, Toledo Museum of Art Masterworks, Toledo, 2009, p. 338, repr. (col.).

Duane Hanson, London, Serpentine Galleries, 2015, repr. pp. 65, 74, 151.

Exhibition HistoryWichita, Edwin A. Ulrich Museum of Art, Wichita State University; Lincoln, University of Nebraska Art Galleries; Des Moines, Des Moines Art Center; Berkeley, University Art Museum, University of California; et al., Duane Hanson, October 1976 - April 1978, p. 50, illustrated.

London, Royal Festival Hall, Duane Hanson on the Ballroom, December 1998 - January 1999.