Barbara Hepworth had a prosperous career within the modernist movement in England. She produced both of the Museum’s examples at a time when an increased demand for her work led her away from stone sculpture to bronze. Her career-long interest in organic, non-human forms remains in both Four Square (Walk Through) and Rock Form (Porthcurno). Whereas Rock Form (Porthcurno) retains the curving planes of much of her work, Four Square (Walk Through) is crafted with a hard geometry characteristic of her late sculpture. In both sculptures, Hepworth embarks on an exploration of the interior of the three-dimensional works. By inviting the viewer to visually walk through her pieces, she breaks open the concept of sculpture in the round, an exploration that exists as one of her major contributions to modernist sculpture.
Details
- Artist Name: Barbara Hepworth (English, 1903-1975)
- Title: Rock Form (Porthcurno)
- Date: 1964
- Medium: Bronze
- Edition: Edition of 6, Cast No. 3
- Dimensions: overall: 99-3/4 x 42 x 17 in. (253.4 x 106.7 x 43.2 cm)
- Credit Line: Norton Simon Art Foundation
- Accession Number: M.1968.22.1.S
- Copyright: © Bowness, Hepworth Estate
Object Information
Recent Acquisitions by the Norton Simon, Inc. Museum of Art
- Portland, Portland Art Museum, 1968-11-12 to 1969-09
- Tancock, John, The Connoisseur,fig. 11 p. 240
- Sculpture Garden, Norton Simon Museum,no. 25
- Marlborough-Gerson Gallery, Barbara Hepworth,no. 18
- Campbell, Sara, Collector Without Walls: Norton Simon and His Hunt for the Best,2010, cat. 512 p. 307
- Bunnell, Peter C., University: A Princeton Quarterly, p. 7
Additional Artwork by Artist
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