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Lot Essay
In a conversation with William Wordsworth dating to June 1970, Barbara Hepworth mentioned a new sculptural idea that was then occupying her imagination intensely. “I’ve got this dream of a new big sculpture—nine figures, walking up a hill,” she explained. “It’s an idea that has been boiling for years…” (quoted in S. Bowness, ed., op. cit., 2015, p. 226). The resulting work, known as The Family of Man group, was the culmination of Hepworth’s decades-long exploration of the inter-relationships between forms when seen in conversation with one another.
Comprised of nine monumental bronze abstract figures, the group represents an ode to the universal progression of life, each “pair” within the sequence representing a different stage in a person’s development, from Youth and Young Girl, to Bride and Bridegroom, through Parents and Ancestors, before reaching the so-called Ultimate Form. Conceived in 1970 and cast circa 1974, Parent II occupies the central, mid-way position in the arc of generations, standing as an anchoring presence that connects the different ages to one another.
The initial idea for The Family of Man appears to have come to Hepworth in the late 1940s, as she began to consider the potential of a sculpture that consisted of individual elements, yet acted as a unified group when viewed together. “When this group first took shape in her mind after the Second World War,” Edwin Mullins has written, “she saw the figures, for reasons she cannot fully understand nor explain, rising out of the sea” (quoted in ibid., p. 248). Given the impracticalities of staging the work in water, Hepworth instead shifted her attention to placing the figures on a stretch of the Cornish countryside, on an incline or hill, so that the natural environment enhanced the connection and sense of progression between the individual pieces. This placement also grounded the sculptures within the landscape, invoking parallels to the mysterious prehistoric rock formations and Stone Age megaliths and menhirs that dotted the countryside near Hepworth’s home in Cornwall.
These monumental, ancient sites held a deep significance for local people across the centuries, their powerful presence shaping their understanding of the history of the landscape and providing a profound visual, and physical, connection to the past. British sculptors such as Hepworth, Henry Moore, Richard Long and Antony Gormley, all exhibit in their work a connection to the country’s prehistoric traditions of placing ancient, hulking forms in remote landscapes, creating modern equivalents of Stonehenge and Avebury, where form, space, and alignment with the land evoke a timeless human presence (as well as absence).
Each of the sculptures from The Family of Man group bears an individual sense of character and distinctive identity. Though entirely abstract in their construction—formed from a series of geometric elements with rounded contours, stacked together—they are all invested with visual equivalences to the stage of life they represent. For example Young Girl and Youth, appear diminutive and slightly out of proportion, as if they have yet to grow into their features; Ancestor I and Ancestor II are more complex, made of four elements apiece, variously perforated with holes or embellished with detailing, suggesting the marks of age, growth and development. Standing over seven and a half feet in height, Parent II is imbued with a sense of solidity, stability and monumentality, its powerful core element allowing it to stretch upwards and tower over the viewer. “It’s so natural to work large,” Hepworth explained of her preference for such large sculptures, “it fits one’s body… I’ve always wanted to go to my arm’s length and walk round things, or climb up them” (quoted in P. Curtis and A.G. Wilkinson, Barbara Hepworth: A Retrospective, exh. cat., Tate, Liverpool, 1994, p. 81).
Across The Family of Man series, visual similarities also connect one form to the next—with subtle modifications and variations, certain features and details are repeated and reconfigured, suggesting traits that have been passed down through the generations. For example, the lower middle quadrant of Ancestor II and the upper middle quadrant of Parent I both have a canonical central hole, while the uppermost segments of Ancestor I and Ultimate Form echo one another, as if variations on the same idea. Similarly, the defining concave curve of the topmost element of Parent II can be found across the series, its gently recessed profile finished with a different patination that catches the light. These common features strengthen the sense of familial similarity and lineage across the series, the viewer finding connections and correspondences between the various figures. Embodying the eternal cycle of life and nature, Parent II and The Family of Man group stand as poignant and powerful reflections of the human experience, expressing Hepworth’s fundamental desire to “make sculptures which will affirm and reaffirm the magic of the will of life and the miracle of rebirth and continuity in the Universe” (quoted in S. Bowness, ed., op. cit., 2015, p. 222).
While a keen advocate for direct carving and “truth to materials” for much of her career, Hepworth began working extensively in bronze in the late 1950s, drawn to its versatility and strength, which broadened the range and structural possibilities of her sculptural motifs. However, even when working in bronze, Hepworth’s process was rooted in the process and practice of carving. “My approach to bronze isn’t a modeler’s approach,” she explained to Alan Bowness in 1970, around the time she was working on The Family of Man sculptures. “I like to create the armature of a bronze as if I’m building a boat, and then putting the plaster on is like covering the bones with skin and muscles. But I build it up so that I can cut it. I like to carve the hard plaster surface. Even at the very last minute when it’s finished I take a hatchet to it… I live with my material and I know it” (quoted in ibid., p. 227). As a result, her finished sculptures are often filled with passages of marks that suggest the movements of the artist’s hands, as she chipped and rubbed away at the malleable material to give the piece a weathered look, a technique Hepworth called “textural calligraphy.” In Parent II, delicate scoring and sharp lines remain visible across the surface of the bronze, injecting the sculpture with a vivid sense of Hepworth’s creative energy as she brought the form to life.
Of the 4 individual casts of Parent II, one is located at The Hepworth Wakefield, West Yorkshire. There are additionally 2 complete groups of The Family of Man, including Parent II, one of which is at the Yorkshire Sculpture Park. Numbered 4⁄4 within the edition, the present cast was acquired by the Saltzmans in April 1987.
Comprised of nine monumental bronze abstract figures, the group represents an ode to the universal progression of life, each “pair” within the sequence representing a different stage in a person’s development, from Youth and Young Girl, to Bride and Bridegroom, through Parents and Ancestors, before reaching the so-called Ultimate Form. Conceived in 1970 and cast circa 1974, Parent II occupies the central, mid-way position in the arc of generations, standing as an anchoring presence that connects the different ages to one another.
The initial idea for The Family of Man appears to have come to Hepworth in the late 1940s, as she began to consider the potential of a sculpture that consisted of individual elements, yet acted as a unified group when viewed together. “When this group first took shape in her mind after the Second World War,” Edwin Mullins has written, “she saw the figures, for reasons she cannot fully understand nor explain, rising out of the sea” (quoted in ibid., p. 248). Given the impracticalities of staging the work in water, Hepworth instead shifted her attention to placing the figures on a stretch of the Cornish countryside, on an incline or hill, so that the natural environment enhanced the connection and sense of progression between the individual pieces. This placement also grounded the sculptures within the landscape, invoking parallels to the mysterious prehistoric rock formations and Stone Age megaliths and menhirs that dotted the countryside near Hepworth’s home in Cornwall.
These monumental, ancient sites held a deep significance for local people across the centuries, their powerful presence shaping their understanding of the history of the landscape and providing a profound visual, and physical, connection to the past. British sculptors such as Hepworth, Henry Moore, Richard Long and Antony Gormley, all exhibit in their work a connection to the country’s prehistoric traditions of placing ancient, hulking forms in remote landscapes, creating modern equivalents of Stonehenge and Avebury, where form, space, and alignment with the land evoke a timeless human presence (as well as absence).
Each of the sculptures from The Family of Man group bears an individual sense of character and distinctive identity. Though entirely abstract in their construction—formed from a series of geometric elements with rounded contours, stacked together—they are all invested with visual equivalences to the stage of life they represent. For example Young Girl and Youth, appear diminutive and slightly out of proportion, as if they have yet to grow into their features; Ancestor I and Ancestor II are more complex, made of four elements apiece, variously perforated with holes or embellished with detailing, suggesting the marks of age, growth and development. Standing over seven and a half feet in height, Parent II is imbued with a sense of solidity, stability and monumentality, its powerful core element allowing it to stretch upwards and tower over the viewer. “It’s so natural to work large,” Hepworth explained of her preference for such large sculptures, “it fits one’s body… I’ve always wanted to go to my arm’s length and walk round things, or climb up them” (quoted in P. Curtis and A.G. Wilkinson, Barbara Hepworth: A Retrospective, exh. cat., Tate, Liverpool, 1994, p. 81).
Across The Family of Man series, visual similarities also connect one form to the next—with subtle modifications and variations, certain features and details are repeated and reconfigured, suggesting traits that have been passed down through the generations. For example, the lower middle quadrant of Ancestor II and the upper middle quadrant of Parent I both have a canonical central hole, while the uppermost segments of Ancestor I and Ultimate Form echo one another, as if variations on the same idea. Similarly, the defining concave curve of the topmost element of Parent II can be found across the series, its gently recessed profile finished with a different patination that catches the light. These common features strengthen the sense of familial similarity and lineage across the series, the viewer finding connections and correspondences between the various figures. Embodying the eternal cycle of life and nature, Parent II and The Family of Man group stand as poignant and powerful reflections of the human experience, expressing Hepworth’s fundamental desire to “make sculptures which will affirm and reaffirm the magic of the will of life and the miracle of rebirth and continuity in the Universe” (quoted in S. Bowness, ed., op. cit., 2015, p. 222).
While a keen advocate for direct carving and “truth to materials” for much of her career, Hepworth began working extensively in bronze in the late 1950s, drawn to its versatility and strength, which broadened the range and structural possibilities of her sculptural motifs. However, even when working in bronze, Hepworth’s process was rooted in the process and practice of carving. “My approach to bronze isn’t a modeler’s approach,” she explained to Alan Bowness in 1970, around the time she was working on The Family of Man sculptures. “I like to create the armature of a bronze as if I’m building a boat, and then putting the plaster on is like covering the bones with skin and muscles. But I build it up so that I can cut it. I like to carve the hard plaster surface. Even at the very last minute when it’s finished I take a hatchet to it… I live with my material and I know it” (quoted in ibid., p. 227). As a result, her finished sculptures are often filled with passages of marks that suggest the movements of the artist’s hands, as she chipped and rubbed away at the malleable material to give the piece a weathered look, a technique Hepworth called “textural calligraphy.” In Parent II, delicate scoring and sharp lines remain visible across the surface of the bronze, injecting the sculpture with a vivid sense of Hepworth’s creative energy as she brought the form to life.
Of the 4 individual casts of Parent II, one is located at The Hepworth Wakefield, West Yorkshire. There are additionally 2 complete groups of The Family of Man, including Parent II, one of which is at the Yorkshire Sculpture Park. Numbered 4⁄4 within the edition, the present cast was acquired by the Saltzmans in April 1987.