Barry Flanagan OBE RA (11 January 1941 – 31 August 2009) was an Irish- Welsh sculptor. He is best known for his

bronze Bronze is an alloy consisting primarily of copper, commonly with about 12–12.5% tin and often with the addition of other metals (including aluminium, manganese, nickel, or zinc) and sometimes non-metals (such as phosphorus) or metalloid ...

statues of

hare Hares and jackrabbits are mammals belonging to the genus ''Lepus''. They are herbivores and live Solitary animal, solitarily or in pairs. They nest in slight depressions called forms, and their young are precociality, able to fend for themselves ...

s and other animals.

Biography

Barry Flanagan was born on 11 January 1941 in

Prestatyn Prestatyn (; ) is a seaside town and community in Denbighshire, Wales. Historically a part of Flintshire, it is located on the Irish Sea coast, to the east of Rhyl. Prestatyn has a population of 19,085. Origin of name The name Prestatyn d ...

North Wales North Wales ( ) is a Regions of Wales, region of Wales, encompassing its northernmost areas. It borders mid Wales to the south, England to the east, and the Irish Sea to the north and west. The area is highly mountainous and rural, with Snowdon ...

. From 1957-58, he studied architecture at Birmingham College of Art and Crafts. He studied sculpture at

Saint Martin's School of Art Saint Martin's School of Art was an art school, art college in London, England. It offered foundation and degree level courses. It was established in 1854, initially under the aegis of the church of St Martin-in-the-Fields. Saint Martin's beca ...

in London from 1964 to 1966, and from 1967 to 1971 taught both at Saint Martin's and at the

Central School of Art and Design The Central School of Art and Design was a school of fine and applied arts in London, England. It offered foundation and degree level courses. It was established in 1896 by the London County Council as the Central School of Arts and Crafts. ...

.Barry Flanagan biography
Waddington Custot Galleries website. Accessed October 2013. He became an Irish citizen and lived in Dublin from 2000 to the year of his passing. Flanagan died on 31 August 2009, aged 68, from

motor neurone disease Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS), also known as motor neuron disease (MND) or—in the United States—Lou Gehrig's disease (LGD), is a rare, terminal neurodegenerative disorder that results in the progressive loss of both upper and low ...

in Santa Eulalia del Río,

Ibiza Ibiza (; ; ; #Names and pronunciation, see below) or Iviza is a Spanish island in the Mediterranean Sea off the eastern coast of the Iberian Peninsula. It is 150 kilometres (93 miles) from the city of Valencia. It is the third largest of th ...

Spain Spain, or the Kingdom of Spain, is a country in Southern Europe, Southern and Western Europe with territories in North Africa. Featuring the Punta de Tarifa, southernmost point of continental Europe, it is the largest country in Southern Eur ...

. He was the subject of a South Bank Show in 1983 directed by Don Featherstone and a biographical film by Peter Bach, ''The Man Who Sculpted Hares: Barry Flanagan, A Life''.

Works

Castings of Flanagan's '' Thinker on a Rock'' are installed at Washington University in St. Louis, the John and Mary Pappajohn Sculpture Park in

Des Moines, Iowa Des Moines is the List of capitals in the United States, capital and List of cities in Iowa, most populous city in the U.S. state of Iowa. It is the county seat of Polk County, Iowa, Polk County with parts extending into Warren County, Iowa, Wa ...

Utrecht Utrecht ( ; ; ) is the List of cities in the Netherlands by province, fourth-largest city of the Netherlands, as well as the capital and the most populous city of the Provinces of the Netherlands, province of Utrecht (province), Utrecht. The ...

, O’Connell Street in Dublin, the

Philbrook Museum of Art Philbrook Museum of Art is an art museum with expansive formal gardens located in Tulsa, Oklahoma. The museum, which opened in 1939, is located in a former 1920s villa, "Villa Philbrook", the home of Oklahoma oil pioneer Waite Phillips and his ...

, in Tulsa, OK, and the

National Gallery of Art Sculpture Garden The National Gallery of Art Sculpture Garden is the most recent addition to the National Gallery of Art in Washington, D.C. in the United States. It is located in the National Mall between the National Gallery's West Building and the Smithsonian ...

(

Washington, D.C. Washington, D.C., formally the District of Columbia and commonly known as Washington or D.C., is the capital city and federal district of the United States. The city is on the Potomac River, across from Virginia, and shares land borders with ...

) Flanagan's hare statue, ''Large Left-Handed Drummer'', was on display in

Union Square, Manhattan Union Square is a historic intersection and surrounding neighborhood in Manhattan, New York City, United States, located where Broadway (Manhattan), Broadway and Bowery, the former Bowery Road – now Park Avenue, Fourth Avenue – c ...

from 18 February to 24 June 2007. Flanagan's 1993 ''Large Mirror Nijinski'', again with two hares, is displayed at the Skulpturen Park Köln, in

Cologne Cologne ( ; ; ) is the largest city of the States of Germany, German state of North Rhine-Westphalia and the List of cities in Germany by population, fourth-most populous city of Germany with nearly 1.1 million inhabitants in the city pr ...

Tate Britain Tate Britain, known from 1897 to 1932 as the National Gallery of British Art and from 1932 to 2000 as the Tate Gallery, is an art museum on Millbank in the City of Westminster in London, England. It is part of the Tate network of galleries in En ...

held a retrospective show ''Early Works 1965–1982'' from September 2011 to January 2012. This exhibition contained many examples of his less well known pieces using materials such as cloth and rope, as well as some early bronze hare sculptures for which he gained renown. At an exhibition held by

Sotheby's Sotheby's ( ) is a British-founded multinational corporation with headquarters in New York City. It is one of the world's largest brokers of fine art, fine and decorative art, jewellery, and collectibles. It has 80 locations in 40 countries, an ...

Chatsworth House Chatsworth House is a stately home in the Derbyshire Dales, north-east of Bakewell and west of Chesterfield, Derbyshire, Chesterfield, England. The seat of the Duke of Devonshire, it has belonged to the House of Cavendish, Cavendish family si ...

Derbyshire Derbyshire ( ) is a ceremonial county in the East Midlands of England. It borders Greater Manchester, West Yorkshire, and South Yorkshire to the north, Nottinghamshire to the east, Leicestershire to the south-east, Staffordshire to the south a ...

, in September–October 2012, fifteen of Flanagan's works were shown in a parkland setting. They included ''Large Nijinski on Anvil Point'' and ''Nijinski Hare'', placed at opposite ends of the Canal Pond. Flanagan donated a bronze horse statue, ''San Marco Horse'', to

Jesus College, Cambridge Jesus College is a Colleges of the University of Cambridge, constituent college of the University of Cambridge. Jesus College was established in 1496 on the site of the twelfth-century Benedictine nunnery of St Radegund's Priory, Cambridge, St ...

in 2009. Prior to this, it had been on exhibition in the college since 1988.

Selected solo exhibitions

*2021 ''Barry Flanagan'', Galerie von Bartha, Basel *2020 ''Barry Flanagan, Alchemy of the Theatre'', Waddington Custot, London *2019 ''Barry Flanagan'',

Ikon Gallery The Ikon Gallery () is an England, English art gallery, gallery of contemporary art, located in Brindleyplace, Birmingham. It is housed in the Listed building, Grade II listed, neo-Gothic former Oozells Street Board School, designed by John Henr ...

, Birmingham *2011 ''Barry Flanagan: Works from 1964—1982'',

*2010 ''Barry Flanagan: Works 1966—2008'', Waddington Galleries, London *2009 Paul Kasmin (Park Avenue Armory), New York *2009 ''Barry Flanagan: Hare Coursed'', New Art Centre, Roche Court, Salisbury, Wiltshire *2008 Vero Beach Museum of Art, Vero Beach, Florida *2008 Waddington Galleries, London *2007 Paul Kasmin Gallery, New York *2006 ''Barry Flanagan: Sculpture, 1965-2005'',

Irish Museum of Modern Art The Irish Museum of Modern Art (), also known as IMMA, is Ireland's leading national institution for the collection and presentation of modern and contemporary art. It is located in Kilmainham, Dublin. History Irish art collector Gordon Lam ...

, Dublin *1974 ''Projects: Barry Flanagan'',

Museum of Modern Art The Museum of Modern Art (MoMA) is an art museum located in Midtown Manhattan, New York City, on 53rd Street (Manhattan), 53rd Street between Fifth Avenue, Fifth and Sixth Avenues. MoMA's collection spans the late 19th century to the present, a ...

, New York *1966 Rowan Gallery, London

Bibliography

''Barry Flanagan: Sculpture'', Venice Biennale, British Council, 1982 ''Barry Flanagan: Sculpture, 1965-2005'', Enrique Juncosa, Mel Gooding and Bruce Arnold,

, Dublin, 2006 ''With Barry Flanagan, Travels through Time and Spain'', Richard McNeff, The Lilliput Press, 2012 ''Barry Flanagan'', Jo Melvin, Teresa Gleadowe, Mel Gooding, Bruce McLean, Waddington Custot, 2017

References

External links