Comments on: The hyper-real sculpture of Duane Hanson

By: Drew

Drew — Thu, 13 Dec 2007 19:47:45 +0000

The man on the bench is definitely my favorite. It’s incredible. Not because it’s so lifelike but because it was apparently maid 1-2 years after the artist died.

He died in 96, the website says it was made in 97-98. Spooky twightlight zone stuff going on there.

By: meta

meta — Thu, 13 Dec 2007 16:14:33 +0000

in high school we had books of various artist and one day i saw his work and i would just sit there and stare. but i forgot about these works when there was no more art class. thanks for reminding me of how awsome they are.

By: Denise

Denise — Thu, 13 Dec 2007 14:09:11 +0000

Years (and years) ago I stumbled across Hanson’s work and was completely smitten. I have a picture book of his work, but have never had the good fortune to see it “live”. A whole life story in each. . .beautiful. His older war pieces are just heart-wrenching. Thanks for the article.

By: heather

heather — Wed, 12 Dec 2007 19:38:20 +0000

Whoa! Those look so real! The only thing that tipped me off was the eyes, which looked a little dead, but aside from that, I had no idea they were fake until i read the post.

By: Matt

Matt — Wed, 12 Dec 2007 19:17:28 +0000

While studying abroad in London I fortunate enough to visit The Saatchi Gallery. Upon coming across “The Traveller”, sculpture of the tourist sleeping on the ground with his shirt open, I remember asking a mate of mine “is that gentleman okay? do you think we should ask an attendant to check on him?” These sculputes are beyond lifelike. I highly reccommend seeing them in person.

By: Chris

Chris — Wed, 12 Dec 2007 17:23:17 +0000

There is a security guard sculpture at the Midwest Airlines Conventions center in Milwaukee. I was at a trade show when a bus caught on fire outside the building. A man ran in a repeatedly instructed the sculpture to call the fire dept. He was more than a little annoyed that the guard wouldn’t even look at him!!

By: Alice

Alice — Wed, 12 Dec 2007 16:22:21 +0000

I was a docent at the San Antonio Museum of Art when it first opened. Its first big exhibit was called “Real, Really Real and Superreal”. It featured a Duane Hansen sculpture of a dumpy little lady in a polyester suit and overpermed hair leaning against a wall and engrossed in a paperback. When I took kids through the exhibit, I’d always stop in front of “her” for a short talk. As I talked, I’d slowly back up toward “her”, getting closer and closer. I never had a problem getting the kids’ complete attention. Their eyes were riveted on me, waiting for drama. At the point of completely invading “her” personal space, I’d reveal that what they were looking at was a sculpture. They loved being led along and surprised! I loved their reactions.

By: Wig Master

Wig Master — Wed, 12 Dec 2007 15:19:21 +0000

The Milwaukee Museum of Art has what just looks like a janitor leaning up against a wall, but it is actually a sculpture. I would bet green money that Hanson was the person who made it. It so real that there is a little sign next to him/it asking people not to mess with it to see if he is a real person trying to fake it.

By: Michele

Michele — Wed, 12 Dec 2007 15:13:54 +0000

These are great! I hope they come to NYC at some point. It’s nice to see sculptures of real people that everyone can relate to.

By: Roger

Roger — Wed, 12 Dec 2007 15:13:29 +0000

Very cool! I’m almost positive this guy was featured on the old (Jack Palance version) Ripley’s Believe it Or Not TV show.