Deeply interested in materials and the physical reactions they provoke, Barbara Hepworth became one of the first artists to introduce space directly into her sculpture. In 1932, she, and perhaps Henry Moore, first burst through a closed mass of marble, creating a hole at its center. “I had felt the most intense pleasure in piercing the stone in order to make an abstract form and space,” she recalled. This penetration of the material for purely abstract purposes immediately established a new category of sculpture, for which space is equivalent to form in the understanding of the object.
Details
- Artist Name: Barbara Hepworth (English, 1903-1975)
- Title: Duo (Grey & White)
- Date: 1973
- Medium: Marble
- Dimensions: A: 20 x 9-1/4 x 5-1/2 in. (50.8 x 23.5 x 14.0 cm); B: 14 x 6 x 8-1/2 in. (35.6 x 15.2 x 21.6 cm)
- Credit Line: Norton Simon Art Foundation
- Accession Number: M.1974.12.2a-b.S
- Copyright: © Bowness, Hepworth Estate
Object Information
Beyond Brancusi: The Space of Sculpture
- Norton Simon Museum, 2013-04-26 to 2014-01-06
Barbara Hepworth - Conversations
- New York, Marlborough Gallery, 1974-03 to 1974-04
Twentieth Century Photography
- Norton Simon Museum, 1986-05-29 to 1986-08-10
- Tancock, John, The Connoisseur, pp. 238-240
- Marlborough Gallery, Barbara Hepworth-Conversations, 1974, no. 17 pp. 12, 46-47
- Campbell, Sara, Collector Without Walls: Norton Simon and His Hunt for the Best, 2010, cat. 1083 p. 370
- Matson, Sara, Barbara Hepworth's Sculpture Garden - YouTube, 2011,
- Matson, Sara, Barbara Hepworth's Sculpture Garden, 2011,
Additional Artwork by Artist
Image reproduction permission may be granted for scholarly or arts related commercial use. All image requests, regardless of their intended purpose, should be submitted via the reproduction request form.
Images may be protected by copyright and other intellectual property rights. Additional permission may be required.
Approved requests for the reproduction of an image will receive a contract detailing all fees and conditions of use of the image. Upon receipt of both the signed contract and full payment, the Office of Rights and Reproductions will provide the image. A complimentary copy of the published material must be provided to the Norton Simon Museum.