Close-up of a rainwater puddle in a Barbara Hepworth sculpture: River Form (1965), Barbara Hepworth Sculpture Garden, St. Ives, Cornwall, UK
"River Form" (1965). In the mid 1960s, Barbara Hepworth reverted to a smoothed and simplified form for the carvings emerging from her workshop. At the same time, the piercing and hollowing characteristic of her style allowed the integration of inside and outside, object and environment. The sculpture's position in the artist's garden, has allowed weathering and the effect of bird lime which has caused the green discolouration of the top (despite regular waxing). A substantial amount of rainwater collects in the interior which, though enhancing the sculpture with reflections, may be associated with the blue discolouration of the faults at either end. The three holes are quite burnished and splay towards the exterior of the sculpture from spiralled openings, two turning clockwise and one (on the right) anticlockwise. They do not serve as drains, but their form suggests the eddying effect of water appropriate to the title. Although Hepworth sometimes made reference to natural phenomena, the unspecific title is rather isolated in her oeuvre. The enclosure of an open interior was a characteristic form which Hepworth had favoured since the 1930s. It has been associated with psychoanalytic theories of the sheltering maternal figure.
Size: 5120px × 3413px
Location: Barbara Hepworth Sculpture Garden, St. Ives. Cornwall, UK
Photo credit: © will Perrett / Alamy / Afripics
License: Royalty Free
Model Released: No
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