Museum Guard

Artist Duane Hanson (American, 1925 - 1996)

Date1975

MediumPolyester, Fiberglass, oil, and vinyl

DimensionsOverall: 69 × 21 × 13 inches (175.26 × 53.34 × 33.02 cm)

Credit LineGift of the Friends of Art

Object numberF76-40

On View

On view

Gallery Location

Collections

Contemporary Art

Terms

Exhibition History

Duane Hanson, Edwin A. Ulrich Museum of Art, Wichita, KS, October 6-31, 1976; University of Nebraska Art Galleries, Lincoln, November 15-December 15, 1976; Des Moines Art Center, January 16-March 13, 1977; University Art Museum, Berkeley, March 29-May 22, 1977; Portland Art Museum, June 6-July 3, 1977; William Rockhill Nelson Art Gallery, July 20-August 14, 1977; Colorado Springs Fine Arts Center, September 2-29, 1977; Virginia Museum of Fine Arts, Richmond, October 15-November 11, 1997.

Sculpture: Modern Works, Philbrook Art Center, Tulsa, OK, November 11, 1977.

Duane Hanson: Sculptures from Kansas City Collections, Johnson County Community College Arts Center, Overland Park, KS, January 13-February 22, 1991, no. cat.

Gallery Label

Duane Hanson's sculpture depicts the face of contemporary America with startling realism. Museum Guard wears a badge like those worn by security officers at The Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art in the early 1970s. Like them, he stands watchful in the gallery. This sculpture began with the application of plastered bandages to a live model. The dry-mold sections were removed from the model's body, greased on the interior and filled or coated with liquid polyvinyl acetate. When hardened, the casts were removed from their molds, assembled and sealed with shellac. Hanson then painted the figure, adding hair and clothing to complete the illusion.

Published References

Martin H. Bush, Duane Hanson (Wichita: Edwin A. Ulrich Museum of Art, 1976), 79, (repro.).

D. Hoffman, “Friend of Art Guards Gallery” The Kansas City Times (November 19, 1976: 3A, (repro.).

Donald Hoffman, “Howlers by the ‘Friends’” The Kansas City Star (November 28, 1976): (repro.).

Martin H. Bush, Sculptures by Duane Hanson (Wichita: Edwin A. Ulrich Museum of Art, 1985), 9, 18, (repro.).

Marco Livingsone, Duane Hanson (Montreal: Montreal Museum of Fine Arts, 1994), 63, (repro.).

Paul Gardner, “Quick, Which Way to the Restroom?” ARTnews, Vol. 93, Number 8, October 1994, 169.

Deborah Emont Scott, ed., The Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art: A Handbook of the Collection (Kansas City, The Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art, 2008), 224, (repro.).

Alice Thorson, “Modern Art on the Move” The Kansas City Star (May 20, 2012): F3, (repro.).

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