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Sculpted after artist Duane Hanson's son, the
lifelike artwork, titled "Baby in a Carriage, 1983," is valued
at about $80,000 to $120,000, according to director of American
art at Heritage Auctions in Manhattan.
"It's the greatest. If you could watch our footage of this baby
in the window, it would crack you up because truly all day,
people, women, children, mothers, grandfathers, cops will stop
and look at it and wonder truly for a second, or more than a
second, is that really a baby?", Director of American art at
Heritage Auctions, Aviva Lehmann, told Reuters, adding that this
"is exactly what Hanson wanted you to think."
The polyvinyl piece of a sleeping toddler wearing a lightlue
sweatshirt and matching sweatpants, is topped off with a head of
blonde human hair, furthering its authenticity.
"That's art?" a stunned Rachel Leeds said with a laugh. "I
thought that was a real baby."
The baby’s shirt carries the bible verse, "He that is without
sin among you, let him first cast the first stone,” from the
Gospel of John 8:7.
Hanson, a Minnesota native, is often depicted as a "hyper
realist" artist.
"He's been grouped with the pop artists, but he's just all about
capturing middle America, whether it's a cop or a security guard
or a tourist sitting on a bench in the sun," Lehmann said.
As the afternoon wound down, the scuplture continued to confuse
midtown Manhattan.
"I passed by it a few minutes ago on my way to a store and then
on my way back I took a better look at it," said onlooker Sarah
Conforti as she snapped a photo of the sculpture. "The baby
doesn't look very happy."
Passerby Rahmel Dantzler expressed having a similar reaction to
the sculpture.
"Kinda creepy," Dantzler said. "I'd run."
"Baby in Carriage" will hit the auction block on Nov. 30.
(Reporting by Roselle Chen; Writing by Jenna Zucker)
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