Barry Flanagan RA - New Now London Thursday, December 9, 2021 | Phillips
  • 'The great bronze hares which Barry Flanagan has been producing since the 1980s are one of the most personal and recognisable artistic endeavours of the second half of this century. Spectacular in size, bitingly ironic and bold, as well as terribly individualistic, they are totally unlike what we normally see in museums and galleries around the world.' —Enrique JuncosaSince its first public appearance at the Venice Biennale in 1982, the hare has become a signature motif in Barry Flanagan’s oeuvre. Flanagan's hares are often engaged in human activities such as boxing, performing acrobatics or playing musical instruments. By incorporating human attributes into his animal world, the result is at once rich and expressive. In the present work, Hare with Ball displays a single hare expressing joy while balancing on a the round bulge. This whimsical gesture brilliantly engages the viewer in it’s movement although static at the same time. In material and production method, the work follows the trajectory of classical sculptural practice– the formal qualities of the bronze, the grandiose scale and meticulous draughtsmanship as well as the volumetric sensibility, are powerfully displayed in this work. Nonetheless, filled with a sense of energy, the elasticity of its limbs captured in a leap gives the hare an almost cartoonish character. Hare on Pyramid is a sculpture bursting with life; and through its dynamic portrayal of movement, the element of playfulness is immediately felt.
     

    Jo Melvin, Director of the Barry Flanagan Estate and Jerry Hughes, Manager of AB Fine Art Foundry, discuss the work of Barry Flanagan.

    • Provenance

      Waddington Custot, London
      Acquired from the above by the present owner

    • Exhibited

      New York, Pace; Chicago, Richard Gray Gallery, Barry Flanagan: Recent Sculpture, 29 April 1994 - 11 January 1995, no. 23, p. 25 (another example exhibited and illustrated, p. 23)
      London, Waddington Galleries; Dublin, RHA Gallagher Gallery, Barry Flanagan, 19 October 1994 - 12 March 1995, no. 11, pp. 30, 57 (another example exhibited and illustrated, p. 31)

    • Literature

      Hans Pietsch, 'Alles Ernste Liegt Dem Hasen Fern,' Art Das Kunstmagazin, no. 4, April 1994, pp. 16 - 23 (another example illustrated, p. 19)
      Barry Flanagan: Recent Sculpture, exh. cat., Richard Gray Gallery, Chicago, 1994, no. 8, n.p. (another example illustrated)
      Rosemarie Trockel, Löffel + Mirabelle, Krefeld, 1995, p. 21 (an example illustrated)
      Clare Preston, ed., Barry Flanagan, London, 2017, no. 85, p. 283 (another example illustrated, n.p.)

PROPERTY SOLD TO BENEFIT THE SCHOLARSHIP FUND OF THE UNIVERSITY OF MANCHESTER

73

Hare with Ball

incised with the artist's monogram, number and stamped by AB Fine Art Foundry, London 'F 8/8 AB London ' on the base
bronze
118.1 x 46.4 x 49.2 cm (46 1/2 x 18 1/4 x 19 3/8 in.)
Executed in 1994, this work is number 8 from an edition of 8 plus 3 artist's proofs.

Full Cataloguing

Estimate
£120,000 - 180,000 ‡♠

Sold for £201,600

Contact Specialist

Simon Tovey
Specialist, Head of New Now Sale
+44 20 7318 4084
STovey@phillips.com

New Now

London Auction 9 December 2021