Barry Flanagan OBE RA (11 January 1941 – 31 August 2009) was an Irish-

Welsh Welsh may refer to: Related to Wales * Welsh, referring or related to Wales * Welsh language, a Brittonic Celtic language spoken in Wales * Welsh people People * Welsh (surname) * Sometimes used as a synonym for the ancient Britons (Celtic peop ...

sculptor. He is best known for his bronze statues of hares 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, History Prehistory There is evidence that ...

North Wales North Wales ( cy, Gogledd Cymru) is a 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 Snowdonia N ...

. 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 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 became part of ...

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 public 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 ...

.Barry Flanagan biography
Waddington Custot Galleries website. Accessed October 2013. He became an Irish citizen and has lived in Dublin since 2000. Flanagan died on 31 August 2009, aged 68, from

motor neurone disease Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS), also known as motor neuron disease (MND) or Lou Gehrig's disease, is a neurodegenerative disease that results in the progressive loss of motor neurons that control voluntary muscles. ALS is the most commo ...

in Santa Eulalia del Río, Ibiza,

Spain , image_flag = Bandera de España.svg , image_coat = Escudo de España (mazonado).svg , national_motto = ''Plus ultra'' (Latin)(English: "Further Beyond") , national_anthem = (English: "Royal March") , i ...

. He was the subject of a biographical film by Peter Bach, ''The Man Who Sculpted Hares: Barry Flanagan, A Life''.

Works

Leaping Hare On Crescent And Bell, City of London

Untitled sculpture by Barry Flanagan (DSCF7040)

Castings of Flanagan's '' Thinker on a Rock'' are installed at

Washington University in St. Louis Washington University in St. Louis (WashU or WUSTL) is a private research university with its main campus in St. Louis County, and Clayton, Missouri. Founded in 1853, the university is named after George Washington. Washington University is r ...

, the John and Mary Pappajohn Sculpture Park in

Des Moines, Iowa Des Moines () is the capital and the most populous city in the U.S. state of Iowa. It is also the county seat of Polk County. A small part of the city extends into Warren County. It was incorporated on September 22, 1851, as Fort Des Moines, ...

Utrecht Utrecht ( , , ) is the fourth-largest city and a municipality of the Netherlands, capital and most populous city of the province of Utrecht. It is located in the eastern corner of the Randstad conurbation, in the very centre of mainland Net ...

O’Connell Street O'Connell Street () is a street in the centre of Dublin, Ireland, running north from the River Liffey. It connects the O'Connell Bridge to the south with Parnell Street to the north and is roughly split into two sections bisected by Henry St ...

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 on the National Mall between the National Gallery's West Building and the Smithsonian ...

(

Washington, D.C. ) , image_skyline = , image_caption = Clockwise from top left: the Washington Monument and Lincoln Memorial on the National Mall, United States Capitol, Logan Circle, Jefferson Memorial, White House, Adams Morgan, ...

) 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, located where Broadway and the former Bowery Road – now Fourth Avenue – came together in the early 19th century. Its name denotes ...

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 ( ; german: Köln ; ksh, Kölle ) is the largest city of the German western state of North Rhine-Westphalia (NRW) and the fourth-most populous city of Germany with 1.1 million inhabitants in the city proper and 3.6 millio ...

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 ...

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

at Chatsworth House,

Derbyshire Derbyshire ( ) is a ceremonial county in the East Midlands, England. It includes much of the Peak District National Park, the southern end of the Pennine range of hills and part of the National Forest. It borders Greater Manchester to the nor ...

, 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 constituent college of the University of Cambridge. The college's full name is The College of the Blessed Virgin Mary, Saint John the Evangelist and the glorious Virgin Saint Radegund, near Cambridge. Its common name comes fr ...

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 English gallery of contemporary art, located in Brindleyplace, Birmingham. It is housed in the Grade II listed, neo-gothic former Oozells Street Board School, designed by John Henry Chamberlain in 1877. Ikon was se ...

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

*2010 ''Barry Flanagan: Works 1966—2008'',

Waddington Galleries Waddington Custot is a London-based art gallery specialising in modern and contemporary art. Formerly known as Waddington Galleries, it has been situated on Mayfair's Cork Street since 1958. History Waddington Galleries was founded on Cork ...

, 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

, London *2007 Paul Kasmin Gallery, New York *2006 ''Barry Flanagan: Sculpture, 1965-2005'',

Irish Museum of Modern Art The Irish Museum of Modern Art ( ga, Áras Nua-Ealaíne na hÉireann) also known as IMMA, is Ireland's leading national institution for the collection and presentation of modern and contemporary art. Located in Kilmainham, Dublin, the Museum pr ...

, 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 between Fifth and Sixth Avenues. It plays a major role in developing and collecting modern art, and is often identified as one of ...

, 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