Summary of David Hare
An American artist adopted by the exiled French Surrealists during World War II, David Hare created photographs, sculptures, paintings, and collages that probed the depths of the human psyche and condition. Eventually steel and bronze became his preferred materials as he created hybrid forms that came from dreams and memories and that evoke uncanny feelings in the viewer. Immersed in Surrealist philosophy but friends with the burgeoning Abstract Expressionists, Hare's sculpture is unique in its concreteness; not a representation of a dream exactly or an abstract symbol, Hare's sculptures seem to take on a life of their own.
Perhaps because he straddled two movements and split much of his time between the United States and Paris, Hare's work doesn't fit neatly into any one category. His overriding creative guidance was that, in his words, "a work of art breaks up reality and recombines it in such a manner as to enlarge our understanding of a total life." Though successful during his life, Hare was not much of a self-promoter and his work is not widely known today. His commitment to Surrealist explorations of human desire, death, and love, even after such subjects fell out of favor, is a testament to the idea that throughout time artists have created art from probing their own psychic spaces and memories.
Accomplishments
- Hare's metal sculptures follow in the line of Surrealist biomorphic sculpture, which uses abstract shapes and forms to create organic compositions that evoke various emotional associations. Though not exactly like using found objects, Hare's use of familiar shapes, often taken from nature, is a form of automatic process that invites randomness and intuition over reason and predetermination.
- Hare used fantastical imagery and mysterious forms to engage the viewer. By creating hybrid figures that at once seem familiar but not quite recognizable, Hare taps into the viewer's imagination, allowing them the freedom to explore their own emotions, desires, and memories in relation to the forms in order to create their own dreams and stories.
- While primarily known as a sculptor, Hare explored Surrealist creative processes in an array of mediums that made him unique among his New York peers. Manipulating negatives, employing automatic drawing and free association, Hare embraced Surrealism's non-traditional methods that downplayed the role of artistic genius.
Biography of David Hare
David Hare was born on March 10, 1917, in New York City into an affluent family. Hare's mother, Elizabeth Sage Goodwin, called Betty, was a renowned art collector from a wealthy family active in avant-garde art circles and a friend to artists, including Constantin Brâncuși and Marcel Duchamp. In 1913, she was among the patrons of the famed Armory Show that featured advanced European modern art to a large American audience. Hare's uncle, Philip Goodwin, was a trustee and the original architect of the Museum of Modern Art. His father, Meredith Hare, was a prominent corporate attorney, who supported all of his wife's activities. Betty was a generous benefactress of social issues, museums, and individual artists. As a result, Hare was exposed to art early in life and grew up in privileged circles of New York and Washington D. C.
