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Lot Essay
TO BE INCLUDED IN THE REVISED EDITION OF THE BARBARA HEPWORTH CATALOGUE RAISONNé BEING PREPARED BY SIR ALAN BOWNESS.
STRINGED FIGURE (CURLEW) IS ONE OF THE FIRST OF A SMALL NUMBER OF HEPWORTH'S SCULPTURES WHICH SHE EXECUTED IN METAL. PRIMARILY A CARVER, HEPWORTH HAD LACKED THE FINANCIAL MEANS TO WORK IN BRONZE BEFORE THE MID-1950S AND ONLY BEGAN TO EXPLORE THE SCULPTURAL POSSIBILITIES OF WORKING WITH OTHER NEWER METALS, SUCH AS STEEL AND ALUMINIUM, IN CONJUNCTION WITH THE ADVANCEMENTS MADE BY YOUNGER BRITISH SCULPTORS AFTER THE SECOND WORLD WAR. ALONG ORPHEUS, STRINGED FIGURE (CURLEW), 1956, HEPWORTH EXPLOITS THE SENSE OF LIGHTNESS AND FLEXIBILITY INHERENT WITHIN THE MATERIAL ITSELF TO CREATE A WORK OF ELOQUENT SPATIAL TENSION.
THE SUBTITLE TO THE WORK PROBABLY REFERS TO THE CURLEW, A BIRD NATIVE TO THE COASTS OF GREAT BRITAIN WHICH EARNT ITS NAME FROM ITS CURLED BEAK. CURLEW ALSO UNDOUBTEDLY REFERS TO THE CURLED NATURE OF THE SCULPTURE WHICH, FOLDING ELEGANTLY IN ON ITSELF, FORMS A SHAPE SIMILAR TO THAT OF A BIRD'S HEAD AS WELL AS SUGGESTING THE WINGS OF A BIRD IN FLIGHT. IN THIS WAY STRINGED FIGURE (CURLEW) CAN BE SEEN TO BE A DIRECT PRECURSOR OF HEPWORTH'S LARGE WINGED FIGURE SCULPTURE WHICH SHE MADE FOR THE JOHN LEWIS DEPARTMENT STORE IN LONDON THE FOLLOWING YEAR. THIS LARGE COMMISSIONED WORK, WITH ITS CURVED FORMS SUGGESTING A BIRD ABOUT TO TAKE FLIGHT, WAS MADE IN ALUMINIUM TO HELP GIVE THE PIECE AN APPROPRIATE SENSE OF LIGHTNESS.
THE STRINGS USED IN THIS SCULPTURE ARE A RECURRING THEME IN HEPWORTH'S OEUVRE. INITIALLY INSPIRED BY THE EXAMPLE OF NAUM GABO, WHO JOINED HER AND HENRY MOORE TO FORM THE GROUP UNIT ONE IN THE 1930S, HEPWORTH OFTEN USED STRING TO CONTRAST INTERIOR AND EXTERIOR FORM AND TO LEND HER WORK A DYNAMIC TENSION.
STRINGED FIGURE (CURLEW) IS ONE OF THE FIRST OF A SMALL NUMBER OF HEPWORTH'S SCULPTURES WHICH SHE EXECUTED IN METAL. PRIMARILY A CARVER, HEPWORTH HAD LACKED THE FINANCIAL MEANS TO WORK IN BRONZE BEFORE THE MID-1950S AND ONLY BEGAN TO EXPLORE THE SCULPTURAL POSSIBILITIES OF WORKING WITH OTHER NEWER METALS, SUCH AS STEEL AND ALUMINIUM, IN CONJUNCTION WITH THE ADVANCEMENTS MADE BY YOUNGER BRITISH SCULPTORS AFTER THE SECOND WORLD WAR. ALONG ORPHEUS, STRINGED FIGURE (CURLEW), 1956, HEPWORTH EXPLOITS THE SENSE OF LIGHTNESS AND FLEXIBILITY INHERENT WITHIN THE MATERIAL ITSELF TO CREATE A WORK OF ELOQUENT SPATIAL TENSION.
THE SUBTITLE TO THE WORK PROBABLY REFERS TO THE CURLEW, A BIRD NATIVE TO THE COASTS OF GREAT BRITAIN WHICH EARNT ITS NAME FROM ITS CURLED BEAK. CURLEW ALSO UNDOUBTEDLY REFERS TO THE CURLED NATURE OF THE SCULPTURE WHICH, FOLDING ELEGANTLY IN ON ITSELF, FORMS A SHAPE SIMILAR TO THAT OF A BIRD'S HEAD AS WELL AS SUGGESTING THE WINGS OF A BIRD IN FLIGHT. IN THIS WAY STRINGED FIGURE (CURLEW) CAN BE SEEN TO BE A DIRECT PRECURSOR OF HEPWORTH'S LARGE WINGED FIGURE SCULPTURE WHICH SHE MADE FOR THE JOHN LEWIS DEPARTMENT STORE IN LONDON THE FOLLOWING YEAR. THIS LARGE COMMISSIONED WORK, WITH ITS CURVED FORMS SUGGESTING A BIRD ABOUT TO TAKE FLIGHT, WAS MADE IN ALUMINIUM TO HELP GIVE THE PIECE AN APPROPRIATE SENSE OF LIGHTNESS.
THE STRINGS USED IN THIS SCULPTURE ARE A RECURRING THEME IN HEPWORTH'S OEUVRE. INITIALLY INSPIRED BY THE EXAMPLE OF NAUM GABO, WHO JOINED HER AND HENRY MOORE TO FORM THE GROUP UNIT ONE IN THE 1930S, HEPWORTH OFTEN USED STRING TO CONTRAST INTERIOR AND EXTERIOR FORM AND TO LEND HER WORK A DYNAMIC TENSION.