The Secret Life of Greta: Secretary by Duane Hanson

Although Duane Hanson modeled his hyper-realistic sculptures after real people, Secretary has a mysterious past—we don’t know who the model was, or if she even worked as a secretary. The word “secretary” has the same Latin origin as the word “secret,” meaning separate or distinguished. This is fitting, as secretaries often hold important positions in the office and serve as gatekeepers privy to confidential matters. Throughout history, most secretaries were men, but with the Industrial Revolution and the invention of the typewriter in the 1870s, the demand for office workers surged and women began to enter the labor force. By the 1930s women dominated the field, and have continued to do so, enduring gender discrimination, sexual harassment, and low salaries.

Dr. Kristen Scholly, the Chair of Health Promotion at the University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa said of Secretary, “She is very much representative of where women might have been in the workplace back in the 70s. You get the sense that she’s far more powerful and intelligent than she’s allowed to be…this is the type of woman in the workplace who forged the way for those of us in the next generation to be able to expand our professional careers beyond some of those barriers.”

Secretary holds a traditional tool of the trade: a steno pad. Although the model’s identity remains an enigma, Secretary has an intriguing handwritten note in its Collections file. Dated March 7, 1984, it thanks a “Mr. Craig” for bringing her back to San Francisco. It mentions the Foster Goldstrom Gallery in Texas, and is signed “Love, Greta.” In honor of that, HoMA staff now affectionately refer to this sculpture as Greta.

— E. Tory Laitila, Curator of Textiles and Historic Arts of Hawaiʻi

Duane Hanson (American, 1925—1996)
Secretary, 1972
Cast polyester and fiberglass, polychromed in oil, with found clothing and accessories, chair
Gift of Dawn and Duncan MacNaughton in honor of Thurston Twigg-Smith, 2011 (14419.1)