The Chase

Date

1965

Creator

Hunt's subject matter also connects with Abstract Expressionist content and its mythical mother lode, Surrealism. Clearly Hunt was influenced by Surrealism, an affinity that Lieberman hid not find surprising. He asserted that Hunt's interest is "not entirely unexpected, since Chicago, where Hunt was born and where he lives, has always been hospitable to Surrealist art, and since many of its best known examples are owned in that city." From within this Surrealistic milieu, Hunt created The Chase, 1965, about which New York Times art critic Grace Glueck said, "Richard Hunt has handled the medium of welded steel with mastery since the beginning of his career. A perfect example is The Chase (1965), a beautifully wrought piece of biomorphic parts--wings, antennae, and legs--whose solid and linear elements play off in superb balance while giving a very real sense of insecthood." With The Chase, Hunt was at his early best, bringing together interests in Surrealism, Abstract Expressionism, assemblage sculpture, open-form sculpture, biological evolution, and mythology (he suggested that The Chase has roots in Diana the Huntress, with dogs "tearing at Actaeon"). The work skillfully assembles its industrial materials through manufacturing processes. It is confident in controlling a complicated, asymmetrical balance and lyrical in imparting a keen sense of motion within a specific, directional attitude. In The Chase, Hunt created a sculpture pregnant with explosive energy, born of a fusion of the natural and the manmade. from Loving, Richard Hunt: Extending Form (Notre Dame, 2012)