Duane Hanson

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Duane Hanson (January 17, 1925 - January 6, 1996) was an American post-modern sculptor known for his life-sized photorealistic works of humans, cast in various materials, including polyester resin, fiberglass, even Bondo®. Later works, starting in the mid-1980s, were cast in bronze. Most of his sculptures are direct three-dimensional casts of his models, a technique known as lifecasting. The surface of the cast is carefully painted in skin tones; he adds clothing, jewelry, and other props, lending to a trompe l'oeil or almost hyper-realistic effect. His works were often politically challenging.

Duane Hanson was born in Alexandria, Minnesota. He received his Bachelor of Arts from Macalester College in 1946 and his MFA from the Cranbrook Academy of Art in Bloomfield Hills, Michigan in 1951. From 1953 to 1960, Hanson taught art in Munich and Bremerhaven, Germany. From 1962-1965 Hanson was a professor of art at Oglethorpe University in Atlanta.