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Lot Essay
Oval with Two Forms is included as BH 538 in the Hepworth catalogue raisonné of sculptures being revised by Dr. Sophie Bowness.
Oval with Two Forms employs two forms which had special significance for Hepworth. As she wrote: "The forms that have had special significance for me since childhood have been the standing form (which is the translation of my feeling towards the human being standing in landscape); the two forms (which is the tender relationship of one living thing beside another); and the closed form, such as the oval, spherical or pierced form (sometime incorporating colors) which translates for me the association and meaning of gesture in landscape; in the repose of say a mother and child, or the feeling of the embrace of living things, either in nature or in the human spirit. In all these shapes the translation of what one feels about man and nature must be conveyed by the sculptor in terms of mass, inner tension and rhythm, scale in relation to our human size and the quality of surface which speaks through our hands and eyes" (A Pictorial Autobiography, London, 1985, p. 53).
Organic shapes such as ovals and spheres were explored by Hepworth early on in her oeuvre and continued to provide creative stimuli throughout her artistic career. A universal symbol of harmony, protection and the maternal womb, Hepworth employed the oval in varying organic shapes in different works and this significant form provided the basis for exploration of spatial relationships and a means to further her ongoing dialogue as to the internal and external boundaries of sculpture.
Expanding on this dialogue, Hepworth introduced further forms and strings as a counterpoint to the ovoid structure to elaborate on previous conversations, here seen in Oval with Two Forms with the introduction of two interior elements. A hand-carved version of the sculpture from 1971 exists within the Tate collection in London, gifted by bequest of the artist's estate, and is comprised of three individually carved forms on a slate base. Each individual form was carved out of a different material, the large outer ovular form in a grey-veined white marble, possibly Carrera, the smallest form in black slate and the larger inner form in a softer white marble, believed to be her favored Serravezza. In casting this subject with an overall polished finish, a new kind of formal balance is achieved, by contrast to the use of distinctly colored elements of the 1971 work. Oval with Two Forms employs the radiance of the golden polish which has a unifying, harmonizing effect on the composition overall. Here, Hepworth explores a distinctly reflective materiality to play on the space within the cavity and in the contrasts of refracted light that both animate the sculpture and add a warmth and brilliance to the surface.
Oval with Two Forms employs two forms which had special significance for Hepworth. As she wrote: "The forms that have had special significance for me since childhood have been the standing form (which is the translation of my feeling towards the human being standing in landscape); the two forms (which is the tender relationship of one living thing beside another); and the closed form, such as the oval, spherical or pierced form (sometime incorporating colors) which translates for me the association and meaning of gesture in landscape; in the repose of say a mother and child, or the feeling of the embrace of living things, either in nature or in the human spirit. In all these shapes the translation of what one feels about man and nature must be conveyed by the sculptor in terms of mass, inner tension and rhythm, scale in relation to our human size and the quality of surface which speaks through our hands and eyes" (A Pictorial Autobiography, London, 1985, p. 53).
Organic shapes such as ovals and spheres were explored by Hepworth early on in her oeuvre and continued to provide creative stimuli throughout her artistic career. A universal symbol of harmony, protection and the maternal womb, Hepworth employed the oval in varying organic shapes in different works and this significant form provided the basis for exploration of spatial relationships and a means to further her ongoing dialogue as to the internal and external boundaries of sculpture.
Expanding on this dialogue, Hepworth introduced further forms and strings as a counterpoint to the ovoid structure to elaborate on previous conversations, here seen in Oval with Two Forms with the introduction of two interior elements. A hand-carved version of the sculpture from 1971 exists within the Tate collection in London, gifted by bequest of the artist's estate, and is comprised of three individually carved forms on a slate base. Each individual form was carved out of a different material, the large outer ovular form in a grey-veined white marble, possibly Carrera, the smallest form in black slate and the larger inner form in a softer white marble, believed to be her favored Serravezza. In casting this subject with an overall polished finish, a new kind of formal balance is achieved, by contrast to the use of distinctly colored elements of the 1971 work. Oval with Two Forms employs the radiance of the golden polish which has a unifying, harmonizing effect on the composition overall. Here, Hepworth explores a distinctly reflective materiality to play on the space within the cavity and in the contrasts of refracted light that both animate the sculpture and add a warmth and brilliance to the surface.