Richard Hunt created Hero Construction in 1958, one year after graduating from the School of the Art Institute of Chicago. The sculpture is composed of found objects—old pipes, bits of metal, and automobile parts—that the artist discovered in junkyards and on the street. Using a torch like a paintbrush, Hunt welded these elements into a form that is abstract yet recognizable.
Hunt was fascinated with mythology, and Hero Construction can be related to other sculptures past and present, from ancient statues of Greek heroes to modern monuments of statesmen. The modest but monumental stance of the figure suggests a contemporary hero who maintains strength in the face of the uncertainties and dangers of the present age.
Date
Dates are not always precisely known, but the Art Institute strives to present this information as consistently and legibly as possible. Dates may be represented as a range that spans decades, centuries, dynasties, or periods and may include qualifiers such as c. (circa) or BCE.
The Alan Gallery, Richard Hunt, exh. cat. (New York: The Alan Gallery, 1958), n.p., cat. 11 (ill.).
Art Institute of Chicago, Two Centuries of American Art, 1750-1950, exh. checklist (Chicago: Art Institute of Chicago, 1959), 2.
Art Institute of Chicago, Art In Illinois, in Honor of the Illinois Sesquicentennial, exh. cat. (Chicago: Art Institute of Chicago, 1968), 11.
Lynne Warren, Art in Chicago, 1945–1995, exh. cat. (New York: Thames and Hudson; Chicago: Museum of Contemporary Art Chicago, 1996), 166, 38 (color ill.) 297.
Andrea D. Barnwell and Kirsten P. Buick, “A Portfolio of Works by African American Artists Continuing the Dialogue: A Work in Progress,” Art Institute of Chicago Museum Studies 24, 2 (1999), 184-185.
Kymberly N. Pinder, “Portfolio,” Art Institute of Chicago Museum Studies 24, 2 (1999), 208-209, no. 19.
Steve Johnson, “Art Institute names next chair of governing board,” Chicago Tribune, April 14, 2021, 1 (color ill.).
LeRonn P. Brooks, Jordan Carter, Adrienne L. Childs, Jon Ott, and John Yau, Richard Hunt (New York: Gregory R. Miller, 2022), 24 (color ill.), 24-25, 27, 28, 33, 36, n. 12 and 19, 47 (ill.), 54, 57, n. 29, 100-101 (color ill.), 281, 325 (ill.), 326, 332, 348, 363.
New York, The Alan Gallery, Richard Hunt, Sept. 29-Oct. 18, 1958, cat. 11.
Art Institute of Chicago, Two Centuries of American Art, 1750-1950, Oct. 1, 1959–Jan. 10, 1960, no cat. no.
Chicago, McCormick Place, Century of Negro Progress Exhibition, Aug. 16-Sept. 2, 1963, not in cat.
Art Institute of Chicago, Art In Illinois, in Honor of the Illinois Sesquicentennial, June 15¬-Sept. 8, 1968, no cat. no.
Art Institute of Chicago, Kraft Center: Art Inside Out: Exploring Art and Culture through Time, Sept. 19, 1992–June 16, 1996, no cat.
Chicago, Museum of Contemporary Art, Art in Chicago, 1945–1995, Nov. 1, 1996-Mar. 23, 1997, cat. 38.
The artist; sold through The Alan Gallery, New York, to the Art Institute of Chicago, Dec. 22, 1958.
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