Barbara Hepworth – Parent 1
June 7, 2008
While Barbara Hepworth’s museum sculptures fetch millions of dollars at auction, one of her finest works quietly rests in front of the Sun Life Building. It does raise the question of how public art is viewed outside of a typical context of white walls, small placard and security guards. Of her sculptures, Sir Herbert Read said “She infused the formal perfection of geometry with the vital grace of nature.” The forms are archetypal and instinctual- tapping into a sense of the prehistoric. This sculpture is from a collection of nine bronze pieces titled “The Family of Man” and was created in 1970.
Modernist abstraction was a common theme in the sixties when Barbara Hepworth and Henry Moore were very popular sculptors. Barbara Hepworth and Henry Moore were in the same art class at Leeds School of Art in 1919 and enjoyed a lifelong friendship.
150 King St. W
June 24, 2008 at 3:24 am
I liked Phil’s comment about the resemblance to an Inukshuk. Another wonderful piece of art that was invisible to me before the tour.
February 1, 2009 at 11:16 am
There is a group of three of these where I work in Wakefield, Yorkshire, England and some locals call them the television sets.
There is going to be a new museum and gallery with a collection of her work built in the city opening in 2010.