Dame Barbara Hepworth (1903-1975)

Corymb

Details

Dame Barbara Hepworth (1903-1975)
Corymb
numbered '3/9' (on the base)
bronze with a green patina
13½ in. (34.3 cm.) wide
Conceived in 1959.

Provenance

Acquired by Miss Hartley, a friend of the artist from the Morris Singer foundry in 1960, and by whom given to the present owner.

Literature

J.P. Hodin, Barbara Hepworth, London, 1961, p. 170, no. 270.
M. Gale & C. Stephens, Barbara Hepworth: Works in the Tate Gallery Collection and the Barbara Hepworth Museum St Ives, London, 1999, pp. 192-193, another cast illustrated.
M. Phillips and C. Stephens, Barbara Hepworth Sculpture Garden, London, 2002, pp. 28, 29, another cast illustrated.

Exhibited

Zurich, Galerie Charles Lienhard, Barbara Hepworth, October 1960, no. 16, another cast exhibited.
London, Gimpel Fils, Barbara Hepworth, May - June 1961, no. 10, another cast exhibited.
Belfast, Queens University, 'Abstract Form and Life': Sculpture by Barbara Hepworth and Biological Models, April 1962, no. 1, another cast exhibited.
London, Whitechapel Art Gallery, Barbara Hepworth an exhibition of sculpture from 1952 - 1962, May - June 1962, no. 50, another cast exhibited.
Farnham, Ashgate Gallery, British Sculpture Today, July 1962, no. 42a, another cast exhibited.
St Ives, Penwith Society of Arts, Autumn Exhibition, 1962, not numbered, another cast exhibited.
St Ives, Penwith Society of Arts, Christmas Exhibition, December 1965 - January 1966, no. 1, another cast exhibited.
London, Tate Gallery, Barbara Hepworth, April - May 1968, no. 100, another cast exhibited.
Bath, Festival Gallery, St Ives Group: 2nd Exhibition, June 1969, no. 3, another cast exhibited.
Liverpool, Tate Gallery, Barbara Hepworth: A Retrospective, September - December 1994, no. 62, another cast exhibited: this exhibition travelled to New Haven, Yale Center for British Art, February - April 1995; and Toronto, Art Gallery of Ontario, May - August 1995.

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Lot Essay

Matthew Gale and Chris Stephens comment, 'The title is a botanical one. A 'corymb' is one of several types of 'indeterminate' inflorescence (or cluster of flowers) in which the flower buds are borne on longer stems (pedicels) giving the cluster a flat head of flowers. Hepworth had long been a keen gardener and the walled garden at Trewyn, where her works are sited, provided the opportunity to extend this enthusiasm. Although some coincidence of form may be found between a corymb and the sculpture, it is possible that a more general idea of inflorescence linked the two' (see M. Gale and C. Stephens, op. cit.).

Cast number 1/9 of Corymb is on loan from the artist's estate and on display in the artist's Trewyn Studio garden at the Barbara Hepworth Museum, St Ives. Cast 2/9 is in the collection of the Städtisches Museum, Leverkusen.

S.B.

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