Barry Flanagan is best known for his dynamic, often monumental, sculptures of animals—hares and horses being the most commonly recurring motifs in his work. When asked about the use of the hare motif, Flanagan would describe an experience of seeing a hare running on the Sussex Downs. This event apparently prompted the first Leaping Hare sculpture which he conceived in 1979, but the motif carries additional layers of meaning though historical, cultural, and mythological associations of the hare. 

For Flanagan, the hare stands as a central, symbolic being. The artist has described the animal as a “surrogate figure…evocative of human situation or activity.” Published in 1972, The Leaping Hare by George Ewart Evans and David Thompson was also an important influence on Flanagan. In the book the authors discuss legends of the hare in poetry and art, including the Egyptian hieroglyph for the hare as a symbol of being. This mercurial image of the hare has come to stand as surrogate for human existence and our relations to the animal world. From Egyptian hieroglyphs to Aesop’s fable, our modern cultural understanding of the hare has deep and ancient roots. Flanagan invites each viewer to bring their individual associations to the piece and construct meaning that is both personal and universal.