Images(6)

Torso

Artist Dame Barbara Hepworth (Wakefield, England, 1903 - 1975)

Date1932

MediumAfrican blackwood on wooden base

ClassificationsSculptures

Dimensions175 x 33 x 33cm
Base: 67 x 33 x 33cm
Top: 108 x 21 x 23cm

AcquisitionPurchased in 1961.

LocationView by Appointment - Aberdeen Treasure Hub

Object numberABDAG004634

Keywords

Abstract

About MeIn 1931 Barbara Hepworth met Ben Nicholson who became her second husband. In 1932 she went to France with Nicholson and met Georges Braque, Constantin Brancusi, Pablo Picasso, Piet Mondrian and other European avant garde artists.

From the early 1930s Hepworth's work was characterised by a purity of shape and refined simplicity of line, where figurative references were replaced by purely abstract forms. 'Torso' dates from the beginning of this period of development and change.

Details of the human form are refined and simplified. An engraved line, incised into the wood, outlines the navel and on the shoulder plane the preliminary chisel marks are retained, contrasting with the polished surfaces elsewhere.

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This dates from the early 1930s when Hepworth's work was centring down on purity of shape and simplicity of line