David Hare (1917-1992)

With the roots of his artistic career in photography, New York City born artist David Hare turned to sculpture in the early 1940s. Strongly influenced by European Surrealists such as Arshile Gorky, Yves Tanguy, Matta, Max Ernst and Andre Breton who emigrated to America before and during World War II, Hare's sculptural work became defined by the principals of this artistic movement. In 1946, the art critic Clement Greenberg wrote, "[David] Hare stands second to no sculptor of his generation, unless it be David Smith, in potential talent" (M. Kimmelman, "David Hare, Sculptor and Photographer, Dies at 75," The New York Times, 25 December 1992.)

With its dramatic sweeping silhouette, Summer Storm, 1954, culminates in an energetic burst of painted black and gold metal, exemplifying the surrealist notions of the symbolic and mythological which were so integral to Hare's artistic practice. David Hare was a leading figure amongst the first generation of New York School artists and his work has been exhibited world-wide and in leading institutions, including a solo-show at the Guggenheim in New York in 1977.