ARTcnet Presents Kenneth Hari Crystal Lucite and Bronze Sculpture


	Crystal Lucite, Bronze Sculpture
return to sculpture return to art gallery Kenneth Hari resume	Photo by Fred Dong
The man who most enriched my life was [poet] W. H. Auden. Auden said my portraits should serve as a unification of man, not as decorative ornaments. ‘Continue your portrait work; it is excellent,’ he wrote to me in one of his many letters. In one letter he asked, ‘Would you be my adopted son?’ He introduced me to everyone - he was so good to me. I became known as ‘Auden’s adopted son,’ and people wanted to see my work. It opened doors for me. Harry Reasoner, who loves Auden’s work, saw my portrait of him and also posed for me. Then I was introduced to one of my first patrons Lincoln Kirstein, the founder of the New York City ballet. From there I did portraits of Marianne Moore, Christopher Isherwood, George Balanchine - and the whole thing mushroomed. I like Dustin [Hoffman]. He’s nuts. He wanted me to paint his nose... [Salvadore Dali] was a friend of mine. I did several Dalis. In a couple, I painted him in a space suit, and dripping honey from his hands. [Bill Blass] asked me what to wear! Imagine that! He should be telling me! [Katherine Ann Porter, the writer of "Ship of Fools"] kept the coffin that she was going to be buried in inside one of her rooms. As a gag, we stood up in it, and somehow a picture appeared in the papers. Marcel [Marceau] talked...and talked...and talked...He talked about his life, philosophy. He also paints. I did about 30 portraits of him. In 1957 or ‘58, Hemingway was older, near the end of his life. I did about 10 pictures of him... When he saw my drawings, he said, "You’re really good, kid," or some tough comment like that. Celebrities are different. You feel the aura of their talent. I try to get it in the painting. Life is great. I love it. Can I get another one?
Crystal Lucite and Bronze Sculpture Please click on sculpture for enlargements and details Please click on Kenneth Hari Celebrity Portraits and Kenneth Hari Lithographs

Kenneth Hari Crystal Lucite Sculpture: Beatrice

17"L x 7" W x 23" H; edition: 360; copyright 1992 Adopted from the legend of the poet Dante's doomed love, Beatrice is a delicate yet haunting piece. She stands partially obscured, wrapped in a glassine shroud. Light plays upon her smooth sensual surface and gives life to its crystalline form. The sculpture - reminiscent of Rondon, Art Nouveau, and the French Symbolists - rises like a ghost from its platform of ice.

BEATRICE
Hers is a radiance
of luminous compulsion
giving a man
the soul of a poet.

Fifteen years of enchantment
out of twenty-four years of life
could not dim the effulgence
of still beauty
burning
in an immortal candle.

Paul Roche, Poet

Please email phyllis@artcnet.com or telephone Phyllis at 610.664.3534 for the price.

Kenneth Hari Crystal Lucite Sculpture: Beatrice (side view)

The side view of Beatrice adds another dimension of both the sculptural form and the absorption of light through the acrylic.

Please email phyllis@artcnet.com or telephone Phyllis at 610.664.3534 for the price.

Kenneth Hari Crystal Lucite Sculpture: Moses

8 3/4"L x 12 "W x 25"H; edition: 360; copyrighted 1992 Moses is part of the series of crystal lucite sculptures that include Beatrice and the Prophet. All three are similar in style and strength, are awash in sensual line and form and are dramatic in their use of light.

Moses
Cradled in reeds,
made son of a princess....
Who could have told
the saga
of this passionate
dispassionate man;
this patient impatient,
modest giant;
Monumental as the Nile
or tablets of stone,
who could fell an Egyptian
flare up at a Pharaoh,
Argue with God?

Paul Roche, Poet

Please email phyllis@artcnet.com or telephone Phyllis at 610.664.3534 for the price.

Kenneth Hari Crystal Lucite Sculpture: The Prophet

11"L x x 7"W x 20"H; edition: 360; copyrighted 1992. Crystal acrylic - or optical crystal, as it is also known - is the clearest material known to man. Due to the extreme lucidity of this substance, Hari's sculptures have an added dimension of space that exists within the sculpture itself. This dimension makes the sculpture exceptionally dynamic, a quality that gives an almost supernatural aura to his bust of Beatrice, as well as the two others in this series.

The Prophet

Veiled
but hooded in light;
Hidden.
but also bowed.
For behind
is a blinding
epiphany
of things unseen
now seen;
a vision wonderful
but too sobering
for the humblest of heart.

Paul Roche, Poet

Please email phyllis@artcnet.com or telephone Phyllis at 610.664.3534 for the price.

Kenneth Hari Crystal Lucite Sculpture: Trio Set: Moses, Beatrice, The Prophet

Edition: 80. The Trio Set includes all three crystal lucite sculptures: Moses; Beatrice; The Prophet.
Please email phyllis@artcnet.com or telephone Phyllis at 610.664.3534 for the price.

Kenneth Hari Bronze Sculpture: Male Torso: Fragment No.1

15 "H x 12 " W; Edition: 90; Copyrighted: 1997 Please email phyllis@artcnet.com for cost of sculpture and shipping, telephone 610.664.3534 or write at P.O. Box 156, Gladwyne, PA 19035.

more Kenneth Hari portraits