1941
Born in Prestatyn, north Wales, 11 January.
1949
Attends Foxhunt Manor School, run by the Xaverian Brotherhood.
1953
Attends Mayfield College.
1957
Studies architecture and then switches to sculpture at Birmingham College of Art and Crafts until 1958.
1959
Works in Devon as a boat hand. Moves to Bristol and works in a variety of jobs, including van driving, working in a bakery and on building sites. Continues making sculpture.
1960
Moves to London and attends Anthony Caro’s Friday evening experimental classes at Saint Martin’s School of Art.
Visits Canada and works on building sites in Montreal.
Returns to Bristol and models clay heads of friends, makes constructions and begins writing concrete poetry.
1961
Turns twenty years of age.
1962
Becomes friends with poets John James and Nick Wayte, who give him a copy of the Evergreen Review, vol. 4, no.13 (May–June 1960), entitled What is ‘Pataphysics?. His lifelong obsession with Alfred Jarry begins.
1963
Marries Sue Lewis, a student at Old Vic Theatre School, Bristol. Lives in Cambridge, Gloucestershire, and as a resident of the county, receives a grant to attend Saint Martin’s School of Art, London.
1964
Begins two-year Advanced Sculpture course at St Martin’s School of Art and models for life drawing classes.
Attends the retrospective exhibition of the work of Joan Miró at the Tate Gallery in London and shakes his hand at the private view.
Begins concrete poetry magazine Silâns with Rudy Leenders & Alistair Jackson
1965
Daughter, Samantha, later known as Flan born.
Delivers silent lip poem, O for orange, at the 2nd International Exhibition of Experimental Poetry at St Catherine’s College, Oxford.
Performs finger poem in Between Poetry and Painting, Institute of Contemporary Arts (ICA), London.
Exhibits aaing j gni aa (1965) at Better Books.
1966
Graduates from St Martin’s with a distinction in the Vocational Diploma in Sculpture (Hons).
Opens his first solo exhibition at Alex Gregory-Hood’s Rowan Gallery.
Helps organise John Latham’s Still and Chew party where students and tutors of Saint Martin’s chew pages of Art and Culture by Clement Greenberg.
Participates, with Yoko Ono and Tony Cox, in the Destruction in Art Symposium, organised by Gustav Metzger and John Sharkey. Flanagan is a founding member of the Artist Placement Group (APG) with John Latham, Barbara Steveni, David Hall and Jeffrey Shaw.
1967
Daughter, Tara, born.
Begins teaching weekly at Central School of Arts and Crafts and Saint Martin‘s, where he continues until 1971.
Draws in classes at the Ballet Rambert, London.
Makes a series of works in sand on Holywell Beach, Cornwall.
Receives a prize in 4th Nagaoka Museum of Contemporary Art Awards and casb 3 '67 (1967) is purchased, Flanagan’s first acquisition into a museum collection.
1968
Solo exhibitions held at Rowan Gallery in London, Galerie Ricke in Cologne, Galleria dell’Ariete in Milan and Galleria Christian Stein in Turin.
1969
Included in two landmark group exhibitions: When Attitudes Become Form: Works – Concepts – Processes – Situations – Information, at Kunsthalle Bern, which tours to Museum Haus Lange, Krefeld and the ICA, London and in Op losse Schroeven, at the Stedelijk Museum, Amsterdam.
Flanagan’s first exhibition in a public institution opens at Museum Haus Lange, Krefeld. Site-specific work is exhibited.
First bronze work is cast by Henry Abercrombie at Central School of Art and Crafts foundry. The sculpture is a portrait of Emlyn Lewis, Flanagan's father-in-law.
First visit to New York for exhibition at Fischbach Gallery, becomes friends with Eva Hesse, Richard Artschwager, Sol LeWitt and Lucy Lippard.
Included in Land Art, Gerry Schum’s Video Gallery exhibition, Berlin, with the film A Hole in the Sea.
Included in exhibition-as-publication One Month devised by Seth Siegelaub.
four rahsb 4 '67 (1967) is acquired by Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum, New York and aaing j gni aa (1965) by the Tate Gallery, London.
1970
First visit to Japan for Tokyo Biennale Between Man And Matter exhibition.
Flanagan makes five films, including sand girl and bollards project and produces his first etchings.
Writes obituary for Eva Hesse in the July/August issue of Studio International.
1971
Participates in Artist Placement Group’s (APG) INNO’70 exhibition at Hayward Gallery, London.
Performs several pieces in the Art Spectrum London exhibition at Alexandra Palace.
1972
Awarded a Gulbenkian Foundation grant to work with the Strider dance group in London; choreographs two pieces over six months.
Commissioned to make site-specific work for Cambridge as part of the Peter Stuyvesant Sculpture in the City Project.
sixties dish (1970) is purchased from the Rowan Gallery by Alistair McAlpine and presented to the Tate Gallery.
The Leaping Hare, book by George Ewart Evans and David Thomson, is published by Faber and Faber, London and Flanagan regularly gives copies to those he works with.
1973
Starts ongoing collaboration with stone carver Sem Ghelardini in Pietrasanta, Italy.
1974
Flanagan is tutored by Ann Stokes at her Hampstead studio.
Exhibits hanging canvas work in solo show in the Project Space, Museum of Modern Art (MoMA), New York.
Flanagan begins to stay regularly at the Chelsea Hotel in Manhattan.
Spends time in Tuscany, Italy, where he draws sculptures at the Etruscan museum.
First survey of his drawings is held at the Museum of Modern Art, Oxford, selected by the director Nicholas Serota.
1975
Flanagan moves to Northamptonshire where he carves local stone and makes ceramics.
Establishes Rowford Process, a trade account, to acquire working materials at a lower cost.
Receives an Arts Council Award to fund his artistic development and kiln work.
1976
Became associated with Waddington and Tooth Galleries, London.
Flanagan’s brother Mike dies at sea in a storm whilst competing in the single-handed transatlantic yacht race.
1977
Major retrospective exhibition conceived and organised by Rudi Fuchs opens at the Van Abbemuseum, Eindhoven, tours in a different format to Arnolfini Gallery, Bristol and Serpentine Gallery, London.
Produces first sheet metal sculptures.
Pile 3 ’68 (1968) features in the British satirical magazine Private Eye in their Pseuds Corner column, when a review written by art critic Nigel Gosling is targeted.
1978
Imports three tonnes of stone from Sem Ghelardini in Pietrasanta and produces new work.
Makes new metal piece at Brown and Tawse, east London, which is subsequently purchased by Ulster Museum, Belfast.
1979
First ‘Leaping Hare’ cast. Begins bronze casting in London at A&A Sculpture Casting, where he establishes a studio space that he maintains throughout his life.
The Hayward Gallery commissions wooden benches designed and manufactured by Rowford Process for exhibition visitors.
The Horses of San Marco exhibition at the Royal Academy of Arts makes a strong impression.
1980
First exhibition of bronzes.
Commissioned by City of Ghent, Belgium to produce outdoor sculpture in steel.
Begins studies for life-size bronze horse in tribute to the Horses of San Marco.
Flanagan’s first permanent public sculpture Camdonian is commissioned by Camden Borough Council, London.
First solo exhibition at Waddington Galleries, Cork Street, London with the first inclusion of a hare sculpture.
a nose in repose (1977) is purchased by the Tate Gallery.
Flanagan makes Vessel (In Memoriam) (1980), as a memorial to his brother, later gifted to the Museum of Modern Art (MoMA), New York.
1981
Turns forty years of age.
Produces first carvings in Sem Ghelardini’s atelier, Pietrasanta.
Visits Washington DC to see Rodin exhibition at National Gallery of Art.
1982
Flanagan participates in Documenta 7 in Kassel, invited by Rudi Fuchs.
Represents Britain at Venice Biennale with exhibition of stone and bronze sculptures 1973–1981, organised by the British Council.
Photographed by Lord Snowdon for Vogue Magazine.
Produces illustrated broadsheet presenting Seamus Heaney’s translation from Middle English of The Names of the Hare.
1983
Interviewed by Melvyn Bragg for South Bank Show, London Weekend Television.
Major solo exhibition at the Pompidou Centre, Paris.
Moves in with German artist Renate Widmann.
The Tate purchases two stone carvings from 1981.
1984
Marble sculptures installed at Watlington Park, Oxfordshire.
Two bronze sculptures installed at Equitable Life Tower West, New York.
Baby Elephant (1984) is purchased by Art Institute of Chicago.
Horse and Cougar (1984) installed in grounds of Setagaya Museum, Tokyo.
1985
Sue Flanagan, the artist’s former wife, donates over one hundred of Flanagan’s etchings and linocuts to the Tate Gallery, London.
1986
Flanagan and Renate Widmann’s son Alfred is born.
1987
Moves to Ibiza with Renate Widmann.
Third daughter, Annabelle, is born.
Elected Associate of Royal Academy of Arts, London.
Large Boxing Hare on Anvil (1984) is purchased by Baltimore Museum of Art.
1988
Flanagan donates a large collection of prints to the Bibliothèque Nationale de France.
Leaping Hare on Crescent and Bell (1988) is installed at Broadgate Centre, London.
1989
Vizitor (1989) commissioned for Les Halles, Paris.
1990
Two ten-foot bronze leaping hare sculptures commissioned by Kawakyu Company, Osaka, Japan for main entrance to hotel.
The Sculler, a hare trophy based on Rodin’s The Thinker, presented by artist to Jesus College Boat Club, Cambridge.
Invited by The Ivy Restaurant, London, to create a sculpture for their refurbishment. Stage Door Johnny (1991) remains in situ.
1991
Turns fifty years of age.
Elected to Royal Academy of Arts and awarded the Order of the British Empire (OBE).
The Bowler (1990) is purchased by the Centre Européen d’Actions Artistiques Contemporaines, Strasbourg and The Drummer (1989–90) is acquired by Nantes Municipal Council.
1992
Takes up residence at Llorens Artigas Foundation, Gallifa, Spain and works on a new series of ceramic pieces.
Untitled (1990) purchased by Israel Museum, Jerusalem.
Hare on Pyramid (1988) purchased by Museo de Arte Contemporáneo de Caracas, Venezuela.
Flanagan’s first major open-air exhibition opens at Yorkshire Sculpture Park.
Takes Irish nationality and lives between Ibiza, Amsterdam, London and Dublin, and spends time in New York.
1993
Major retrospective organised by Fundación la Caixa, Madrid, opens in collaboration with the British Council; touring to Musée des Beaux-Arts, Nantes.
Takes five-year lease on Chelsea Hotel apartment in New York.
Small Nijinski Hare (1989–90) is purchased by the National Museum of Wales, Cardiff.
1995
Large Mirror Nijinski (1992) is purchased by British Council, Madrid.
Ten monumental hare sculptures are installed along the central reservation of Park Avenue, New York.
Flanagan gifts Elephant and Jackass (1995) to Stanley Bard, for the lobby of the Chelsea Hotel.
1996
Donates Horse, Mirrored (Cow Girls: Sheep Boys) (1995) to the Hugh Lane Gallery, Dublin and The Cricketer (1989) to Jesus College, Cambridge.
The Park Avenue sculptures are transferred to Grant Park, near Michigan Avenue, in Chicago.
Hospitality (1990) cast AC 1 of 1, is acquired for installation in the vineyard of Château Smith Haut Lafitte, Bordeaux, France.
1997
Flanagan acquires a cottage in Wicklow, Ireland.
Hospitality (1990) cast 5 of 5, is purchased by Knokke-Heist, Belgium, and becomes a landmark on the Zwin nature reserve sand dunes.
1998
Flanagan spends more time in Dublin and the surrounding area. Performs Sex W. Johnston’s poem Mantra of the Awoken Powers with Hugh Cornwell and band in Whelan’s Bar.
1999
The National Gallery of Art Sculpture Garden, Washington DC opens with Thinker on Rock (1997) as part of the collection.
Flanagan starts living with Jessica Sturgess.
2000
Works from the Tate collection exhibited at Tate Liverpool.
Flanagan designs a frog hare stamp for the Collège de ‘Pataphysique, Paris.
2001
Flanagan donates Drummer (1996) to the Irish Museum of Modern Art (IMMA) in Dublin and H’om (2001) to the Peggy Guggenheim Collection in Venice.
2002
Flanagan returns to live in Ibiza.
Major retrospective exhibition opens at Kunsthalle Recklinghausen, Germany, touring to Musée d’Art Moderne et d’Art Contemporain, Nice.
Thinker on Rock (1997) is officially installed in Neude Square, Utrecht.
2004
Flanagan’s first exhibitions with Galerie Lelong in Paris and Paul Kasmin Gallery, New York.
He works on a project to redesign his suite at the Chelsea Hotel.
2005
Mini Retrospective opens at Stedelijk Museum voor Actuele Kunst, Ghent.
2006
A major survey exhibition opens at Irish Museum of Modern Art (IMMA), Dublin, and ten sculptures are installed outside in central Dublin, organised by Dublin City Gallery, The Hugh Lane.
Flanagan participates in Jake Auerbach’s documentary film, Rodin: The Sculptors’ View.
2007
Large Left-Handed Drummer (2006) installed at Union Square, New York.
Made Honorary Fellow of Jesus College, Cambridge.
2009
Continues making ceramics and works on two films completed after his death; Flanagan’s Wake, with Peter Bach, and The Last Hare with José del Rio Mons.
Dies from motor neurone disease on 31 August in Ibiza at the age of 68.
The Estate of Barry Flanagan is established.
2010
Three monumental sculptures exhibited in the Courtyard of the Royal Academy, London.
Yorkshire Sculpture Park shows Elephant (1986), Hare and Bell (1988) and Large Left-Handed Drummer (2006).
Nijinski Hare (1996) installed at Hannam the Hill Sculpture Park, Seoul, South Korea.
2011
Major retrospective Barry Flanagan: Early Works 1965–1982 opens at Tate Britain. Somethings Etruscan published by Tate Publishing.
2012
Fifteen bronze sculptures exhibited at Chatsworth House.
Documentary, Flanagan’s Wake, premieres at BAFTA, and is screened as the man who sculpted hares: Barry Flanagan, a life on BBC Four.
Launch of Silâns publication.
2013
Nijinski Hare (1996) installed in the Jardin des Plantes, Paris as part of FIAC.
2014
Two Pataphysicians: Flanagan Miró opens at Waddington Custot, London.
2015
one ton corner piece '67, 1967 and heap 3 '67/68, 1967/8, Cullinan Richards, London
2016
Barry Flanagan: Animal, Vegetable, Mineral, Works 1964–1983, a survey of early works at Waddington Custot, London, marks fifty years since Flanagan’s first solo exhibition.
Acrobats (1997) is installed at the Enea Tree Museum, the home of the tree collection of Swiss landscape architect Enzo Enea.
2017
Flanagan’s little-known early light works shown at &Model, Leeds, curated by Jo Melvin.
Large Monument (1996) is displayed as part of the major exhibition Rodin, l’exposition du centenaire, at the Grand Palais, Paris.
2018
Kröller-Müller Museum, Netherlands solo show.
2019
A major survey of over sixty works by Flanagan opens at Ikon Gallery, Birmingham.
Monumental sculptures by Flanagan are included in Amsterdam Sculpture Biennial Artzuid, Sculpture Milwaukee, and Frieze Sculpture, Regent’s Park, London.
2020
Three bronze sculptures are installed on the roof of Kasmin Gallery, NYC, viewable from The High Line public park.
Waddington Custot, London opens Alchemy of the Theatre.
2021
Solo exhibition opens at von Bartha, Basel, the gallery having first held a solo exhibition of works by Flanagan in 1998.
2022
Waddington Custot, London, marks the 40-year anniversary of Flanagan representing Great Britain at the Venice Biennale with Barry Flanagan at the Venice Biennale.
2023
Flanagan's Large Nijinski on Anvil Point (2001) is displayed on the north-west corner of Berkeley Square, London.
2024
A unique re-enactment of Flanagan’s lost 1969 film the works is brought to life by Turner Prize-winning collective Assemble.
2025
Large Nijinski on Anvil Point (2001) returns to Yorkshire Sculpture Park.
Three monumental sculptures are installed at Hotel du Cap Eden Roc, Antibes, France.
The Estate of Barry Flanagan trains with the British Library and begins an oral history project.
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