Dedicated 2009
For more than 50 years, the focus of Peter Fagan’s artwork has been on the three-dimensional representation of animals and figures in bronze. Fagan taught portrait and figurative sculpture at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign for more than 30 years with an emphasis on the “lost wax bronze casting” process. His special area of expertise is representational bronze portraiture. He has a keen sense of observation and awareness that allows him to permanently capture the subtle changes of the anatomy as it transitions through different stages of movement.
Reminiscent without being derivative of Edgar Degas’ bronze, "Little Dancer," the delicate features, elegant posture and refined details of Peter Fagan’s bronze sculpture, "Portrait," capture a moment of reflection or pause prior to the pirouette.
"Portrait" was originally designed and executed for the Pier Walk ’97 Exhibition held at Navy Pier in Chicago. At the conclusion of Pier Walk 1997, the first bronze casting of "Portrait" was purchased by a private individual and willed to the city of Colfax, Iowa for permanent display outside the Colfax, Iowa Public Library. The Lewis and Clark version is the second casting from the original mold from an edition of two.
Fagan has bronze sculptures in major public and private collections including his larger than life size standing bronze portrait of Richard J. Daley on permanent display in the rotunda of the State Capitol in Springfield, Illinois.
The bronze sculpture Portrait, was purchased in 2009 through the Art-in-Architecture program of the state of Illinois, Capital Development Board.
Peter Fagan is an American artist, born in 1939.
