Barry Flanagan, R.A.

(British, 1941-2009)

Acrobats
1988

Footnotes

Provenance
John Berggruen Gallery, San Francisco
Acquired directly from the above by the present owner in 1992

Exhibited
London, Waddington Galleries and The Economist Plaza, 1990, p. 19, no. 8, another example illustrated in colour
New York, The Pace Gallery, Barry Flanagan, 1990, np., no. 8, another example illustrated in colour
Berlin, Haus am Waldsee, Animalia: Stellvertreter, 1990, p. 50, another example illustrated in colour
Fréjus, Musée Temporaire, Foundation Daniel Templon: La Sculpture Contemporaine après 1970, 1991, p. 89, another example illustrated in colour
New York, Paul Kasmin Gallery, Barry Flanagan: Sculptures, 2004, another example exhibited

Literature
Richard Dorment, 'First catch your hare' in: The Daily Telegraph, 29 May 1990, another example illustrated



Towering at nearly 10 feet tall, Barry Flanagan's Acrobats is undoubtably one of the late Welsh artist's most significant works. First appearing in 1979, the figure of the hare dominated Flanagan's practice ever since, and is represented in institutional collections and beloved public sculptures around the world. When asked about this particular choice of subject, Flanagan stated: 'I find that the hare is a rich and expressive form that can carry the conventions of the cartoon and the attributes of the human into the animal world. So I use the hare as a surrogate or as a vehicle to entertain in a way. The abstract realm that sculpture somehow demands is a very awkward way to work, so I abstract myself from the human figure, choosing the hare to behave as a human occasionally.' (the artist in: Barry Flanagan: Sculpture 1965-2005, exh. cat., Irish Museum of Modern Art, Dublin, 2006, p. 65)

In the 1970s, Flanagan moved away from his earlier conceptual work towards a more figurative practice. He started modelling the human form and a range of different animals in bronze, but the motif of the hare is really the one that stuck in the collective mind and came to symbolise his practice. Allegedly inspired by both a hare he watched hopping happily across the English countryside in the late 1970s, and by George Ewart Evans' book The Leaping Hare published in 1972, Flanagan first represented the animal in his now-seminal work Leaping Hare from 1979. A study of the hare's significance around the world in folklore, poetry, mythology and art throughout history, George Ewart Evans' delightfully light-hearted book fuelled Flanagan's interest for the remainder of his artistic practice.

The subject of the present work, two anthropomorphised hares balanced on top of each other, first appeared in a smaller format in 1981 which was shown in the very first exhibition of Flanagan's bronzes at Waddington Galleries in London that same year. A resounding success, the exhibition of Flanagan's sculptures truly propelled his career, and he represented Britain at the Venice Biennale in 1982.

Flanagan's most iconic sculptures, of which Acrobats is a quintessential example, all succeed in conveying a sense of movement and physical tension whilst remaining wonderfully playful. One can't help but smile at the comical representation of humanlike hares engaging in sporting activities, such as boxing or acrobatics, which unlocks childhood memories of absolute freedom and whimsy. As author Paul Levy puts it, 'nothing is more free, vital, spontaneous and alive – from Aesop's hare outrun by the tortoise to Bugs Bunny – than a capering hare. In France and most of Central Europe, it is the hare that lays eggs at Easter and so promises renewal. In fact, Flanagan's hares do not carry much of this historic symbolic freight; they simply frolic freely and expressively. They don't symbolise life, they live it.' (Paul Levy, Barry Flanagan: Linear Sculptures in Bronze and Stone Carvings, exh. cat., Waddington Galleries, London, 2004)

The present work was acquired over 25 years ago by prominent American collector and philanthropist Gerard L. Cafesjian, and remained in his Estate's collection until now. Born in 1925 in Brooklyn to Armenian immigrant parents, Mr. Cafesjian became a highly successful editor at West Publishing - a firm specialising in legal materials - and spearheaded the launch of the annual 'Art and the Law' exhibition, for which he received the prestigious Business in the Arts Award. Mr. Cafesjian's passion for collecting began with a childhood fascination with geology and gemstones, which later branched into fine art. Over the years, he patroned and developed personal relationships with world-renowned sculptors and ultimately assembled an impressive collection of both lapidary and fine works of art.

Upon his retirement, Mr. Cafesjian committed his time to art and charity, as he founded the Cafesijan Family Foundation to support mostly Armenian causes. He founded the Scottsdale Museum of Contemporary Art in Arizona in 1999, and, in the early 2000s, he set his sights on an enormous, unfinished and crumbling Soviet structure in Armenia's capital city as the site for a private museum. The building's ambitious renovation and expansion resulted in the creation of the Cafesjian Center for the Arts, which, upon its inauguration in 2009, was touted by the New York Times as being a modern-day 'Hanging Gardens of Armenia' and is best known for its world-class sculpture garden.