A pencil drawing on paper by Dame Barbara Hepworth (1903–1975), signed and dated lower right: Barbara Hepworth Dec 1947. This rare figurative work was executed during Hepworth’s time in St Ives and depicts a seated nude figure threading a needle — a composition that reflects her continued interest in the human form and its relationship to gesture and line.
Though best known for her abstract sculpture, Hepworth maintained a lifelong drawing practice. Works such as this, with their controlled mark-making and pared-back intimacy, offer a quiet counterpoint to her three-dimensional output and underscore the formal concerns that bridge her sculpture and works on paper.
This drawing was exhibited at the Lefevre Gallery in 1948 and is accompanied by a letter from Hepworth to the original owner, written on headed paper from Trewyn Studio, St Ives.
Provenance:
Mr Ward Jackson, Polruan, Cornwall
Christie’s, London, 23 May 1975, Lot 51
Private Collection (acquired from the above sale)
Exhibited:
Paintings by Barbara Hepworth; Paintings by L.S. Lowry, Lefevre Gallery, London, April 1948, exhibited as one of nos. 32–36
Origin: British
Period/Style: Modern British
Date: 1947
Material: Pencil on paper
Dimensions: 49cm height × 40cm width (framed)
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A pencil drawing on paper by Dame Barbara Hepworth (1903–1975), signed and dated lower right: Barbara Hepworth Dec 1947. This rare figurative work was executed during Hepworth’s time in St Ives and depicts a seated nude figure threading a needle — a composition that reflects her continued interest in the human form and its relationship to gesture and line.
Though best known for her abstract sculpture, Hepworth maintained a lifelong drawing practice. Works such as this, with their controlled mark-making and pared-back intimacy, offer a quiet counterpoint to her three-dimensional output and underscore the formal concerns that bridge her sculpture and works on paper.
This drawing was exhibited at the Lefevre Gallery in 1948 and is accompanied by a letter from Hepworth to the original owner, written on headed paper from Trewyn Studio, St Ives.
Provenance:
Mr Ward Jackson, Polruan, Cornwall
Christie’s, London, 23 May 1975, Lot 51
Private Collection (acquired from the above sale)
Exhibited:
Paintings by Barbara Hepworth; Paintings by L.S. Lowry, Lefevre Gallery, London, April 1948, exhibited as one of nos. 32–36
Origin: British
Period/Style: Modern British
Date: 1947
Material: Pencil on paper
Dimensions: 49cm height × 40cm width (framed)
+ Shipping Info
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