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corrected obviously wrong part - deleted the part (hahn in German has the same double meaning as "cock" in English) because it is not true: „Hahn“ has no whatsoever colloquial meaning referring to the phallus in the German language #article-section-source-editor Tags: Mobile edit Mobile app edit iOS app edit |
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{{Short description|Sculpture by Katharina Fritsch}}
{{Use British English|date=August 2013}} {{Use dmy dates|date=
{{Infobox artwork
| image_file = Hahn-Cock.jpg
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| museum = [[National Gallery of Art]], Washington D.C, [[Minneapolis Sculpture Garden]], Minneapolis, Minnesota
}}
'''''Hahn/Cock''''' is a sculpture of a giant blue [[cockerel]] by the German artist [[Katharina Fritsch]]. It was unveiled in [[London]]'s [[Trafalgar Square]] on 25 July 2013 and was displayed on the vacant [[Fourth plinth, Trafalgar Square|fourth plinth]]. The [[fibreglass]] work stood {{convert|4.72|m}} high and was the sixth work to be displayed on the plinth, on which it stayed until 17 February 2015. It was subsequently acquired by [[Mitchell Rales#Glenstone|Glenstone]], a private museum, and exhibited at the [[National Gallery of Art]] in Washington, DC, following its 2016 reopening.<ref name=dcist>{{cite news |url=http://dcist.com/2016/04/blue_rooster.php |title=The National Gallery's East Building Is Reopening—With A Giant, Blue Rooster
The work is in an edition of two. The second version is in the [[Minneapolis Sculpture Garden|sculpture garden]] of the [[Walker Art Center]] in [[Minneapolis]], Minnesota
==Meanings==
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Fritsch says that there are many possible interpretations of the cockerel, which took her two and a half years to create, but calls it "a feminist sculpture, since it is I who am doing something active here – I, a woman, am depicting something male. Historically it has always been the other way around. Now we are changing the roles. And a lot of men are enjoying that."<ref name="Guardian">{{cite news |url=https://www.theguardian.com/artanddesign/2013/jul/25/big-blue-cock-trafalgar-square |title=Big blue cock erected on fourth plinth in London's Trafalgar Square|last=Higgins|first=Charlotte|newspaper=The Guardian|date=25 July 2013|accessdate=27 July 2013}}</ref> She notes that the surrounding area has a strongly male character, with numerous statues of "male persons standing on pedestals" and the male-dominated culture that goes with London's status as a business centre. The statue is intended to be a humorous counterbalance, contrasting with the very formal [[equestrian statue]]s on the square's other three plinths: "Humour is always a big thing for me. It stops things from becoming too severe. I like English humour. It is so often very dark."<ref name="Guardian" />
The sculpture was selected by the Fourth Plinth Commissioning Group, a panel of specialist advisors that guides and monitors the commissions for the plinth.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.london.gov.uk/priorities/arts-culture/fourth-plinth/fourth-plinth-commissioning-group|title=Fourth Plinth Commissioning Group|publisher=Greater London Authority|accessdate=2 August 2013|url-status=dead|archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20130728110842/http://www.london.gov.uk/priorities/arts-culture/fourth-plinth/fourth-plinth-commissioning-group|archivedate=28 July 2013
{{
It was unveiled on 25 July 2013 by [[Mayor of London]] [[Boris Johnson]]. He pointed out the irony that the cockerel, an unofficial national emblem of [[France]], was standing in a square commemorating [[Battle of Trafalgar|a famous British victory over the French]].<ref name="Guardian" /> Fritsch has said that she was unaware of the connection until it was explained to her. According to Fritsch, she chose the cockerel to represent strength and regeneration, "but it's a nice humorous side-effect to have something French in a place that celebrates victory over [[Napoleon]]. He has come back as a cockerel!"<ref>{{cite news |last=Barnett |first=Laura |title=Katharina Fritsch on her Fourth Plinth cockerel sculpture: 'I didn't want to make fun – but I was invited' |url=https://www.theguardian.com/artanddesign/2013/jul/24/katharina-fritsch-fourth-plinth-cockerel-sculpture |newspaper=The Guardian |date=24 July 2013 |accessdate=2 August 2020}}</ref> Johnson said in his speech that "I hope French people will not take it as excessive British chauvinism – but for me it stands for [[2013 Tour de France#General classification|the recent British triumph in the Tour de France]], which we have [[2012 Tour de France#General classification|won twice in a row]] ... it is a symbol of French sporting pride, brought like a chicken to London. We have mounted this French cock at the heart of our imperial square."<ref name="Guardian" />
Fritsch and Johnson have both noted the sexual [[double entendre]] in the work's name –
==Reception==
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The giant cock received generally positive reviews from art critics, with punning headlines such as "Big blue cock erected on fourth plinth in London's Trafalgar Square",<ref name="Guardian" /> "Boris Johnson in Trafalgar Square with a Massive Blue Cock And Disgruntled Woman"<ref>{{cite news|url=http://www.huffingtonpost.co.uk/2013/07/25/boris-johnson-caption-comp_n_3651708.html|title=Boris Johnson in Trafalgar Square with a Massive Blue Cock And Disgruntled Woman|work=The Huffington Post UK|date=25 July 2013|accessdate=28 July 2013}}</ref> and "Boris Johnson unveils giant cock in Trafalgar Square"<ref>{{cite news|url=http://news.uk.msn.com/uk/boris-johnson-giant-cock-trafalgar-square-london|title=Boris Johnson unveils giant cock in Trafalgar Square|publisher=MSN UK|last=Jones|first=Ian|date=25 July 2013|accessdate=28 July 2013|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130728122743/http://news.uk.msn.com/uk/boris-johnson-giant-cock-trafalgar-square-london|archive-date=28 July 2013|url-status=dead}}</ref>).
[[Adrian Searle]] of ''[[The Guardian]]'' commented that "the scale and modelling and degree of detail feel right", with a "lifelike and other-worldly" feel to the sculpture. He felt that it avoided "straining to look meaningful or relevant" and that despite its irreverence, it "lightens the mood and lifts the spirit."<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.theguardian.com/artanddesign/2013/jul/25/fourth-plinth-gives-nelson-the-bird|last=Searle|first=Adrian|title=Fourth plinth: Katharina Fritsch's cockerel gives Nelson the bird|newspaper=The Guardian|date=25 July 2013|accessdate=28 July 2013}}</ref> ''[[The Daily Telegraph]]'s'' Serena Davis did not regard it as being as impressive as some of the previous works to have stood on the fourth plinth, but nonetheless called it "one of the jolliest things to have sat upon the square's spare plinth since the public art commissions for it began in 2005."<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/culture/art/art-reviews/10201962/Fourth-Plinth-Trafalgar-Square-Cock-review.html|title=Fourth Plinth Trafalgar Square: Cock, review|last=Davies|first=Serena|work=The Daily Telegraph|location=London|date=25 July 2013|accessdate=28 July 2013}}</ref>
[[BBC News]]' arts correspondent Rebecca Jones wrote that the work has "a kind of joyful aspect to it which will put a smile on many people's faces".<ref name="BBC">{{cite news|url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/entertainment-arts-23448832|title=Blue cockerel takes roost on Fourth Plinth|publisher=BBC News|date=25 July 2013|accessdate=28 July 2013}}</ref> Visitors interviewed by the London ''[[Evening Standard]]'' newspaper also gave it a thumbs up.<ref name="Standard">{{cite news|url=https://www.standard.co.uk/news/london/sacre-bleu-lord-nelson-now-looks-down-on-a-giant-french-cock-in-trafalgar-square-8731524.html|title=Sacre bleu! Lord Nelson now looks down on a giant French cock in Trafalgar Square|work=Evening Standard|location=London|last=Jury|first=Louise|date=25 July 2013|accessdate=27 July 2013}}</ref> The Thorney Island Society, a local conservation group, objected to the sculpture on the grounds that it was "unrelated to the context of Trafalgar Square and adds nothing to it but a feeble distraction", but ''The Guardian's'' chief arts writer [[Charlotte Higgins]] pointed out that Fritsch's other works have a habit of "appear[ing] "fanciful and dramatic" and "unrelated" to their contexts." She commented that one should not "overthink it. It's a big, blue, funny, weird, surreal bird in Trafalgar Square. It's going to cheer us all up. Katharina's Cock, as I'd like to think of it, should be a hit."<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.theguardian.com/culture/charlottehigginsblog/2013/may/01/art-sculpture|title=Planning cock-up on Trafalgar Square's Fourth Plinth|last=Higgins|first=Charlotte|work=The Guardian|date=1 May 2013|accessdate=2 August 2013}}</ref>
==References==
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{{reflist
{{Trafalgar Square}}
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