Duane Hanson (1925-1996) American, Signed Touring Exhibition Poster. Depicts two of the artist's stunningly lifelike figures as bored tourists in a tropical paradise. Signed along bottom of image: "Best Wishes from Duane Hanson 2/29/92." Lists five different shows at bottom between September of 1989 and November of 1990. 

Condition: Very minor fading, overall great. 

Overall Size: 20 1/4 x 28 3/4 in. 

Sight Size: 18 x 27 1/4 in. 

Duane Elwood Hanson was born on January 17th, 1925 in Alexandria, Minnesota. After attendance at Luther College and the University of Washington, he graduated from Macalester College in 1946. Following a period where he taught high school art, he received a Master of Fine Arts degree from the Cranbrook Academy of Art in Bloomfield Hills in 1951. Around 1966 Hanson moved to South Florida and began making figural casts using fiberglass and vinyl, which brought him instant notoriety for their often extreme and highly realistic subjects. Many showed figures grouped in tableaux, some depicting brutal and violent acts, such as Abortion (1966) depicting an illicit backroom procedure, and Accident (1967) showed a motorcycle crash. Race Riot (1969-1971) was one of his largest works and generated controversy for showing a white policeman terrorizing an African American man while being attacked by another. The sculptures were always cast from actual people, and painted to make the revealed skin look realistic, replete with veins and blemishes. Hanson would then clothe the figures with garments from second-hand stores or even from the person who modeled for him. Few of Hanson’s early sculptures survive because he later destroyed many of them, preferring to be known for his more mature style. Around 1970, Hanson abandoned gut-wrenching scenes for more subtle, though still very vivid, ones, such as the Supermarket Shopper, Hardhat, and Tourists. Unlike the earlier works these were single or paired figures, and almost always displayed a listless, bored look, disengaged from their surroundings. In 1969 Hanson moved to Manhattan to be closer to the major art scene, but grew tired of the winters and moved to Davie, Florida in 1973, remaining there the rest of his life. Hanson died of Non Hodgkins’ lymphoma in a hospital in Boca Raton on January 6th, 1996, with his entire estate being represented from then on by Gagosian Gallery. His works are considered foundational in the fields of both hyperrealism and photorealism, and are on permanent display in the Whitney Museum of American Art, The San Francisco Museum of Modern Art, and The Smithsonian, among others.

Very minor fading, overall great.