Watch:
Dame Barbara Hepworth, Winged Figure I
Leading our upcoming Modern British & Irish Art auction this November is Dame Barbara Hepworth's Winged Figure I. Conceived in 1957, the piece is crafted from a subtly graduated sheet of rolled bronze, adorned with sweeping copper toned wings. Its surface is enriched by hand-applied Isopon that lends a painterly depth and tonal complexity. Strung wires, taut and lyrical, animate the void with shifting shadows.
Hepworth translated the form of Winged Figure I to a 6 meter variation in cast aluminium to fulfil her commission for the John Lewis Partnership in 1963. The work, sited on the company's Oxford Street store, remains one of London's most iconic public sculptures, and emblematic of Hepworth's ascendency to a confirmed major figure in the canon of 20th century modernism. Find out more below.
Modern British & Irish Art
19 November | London, New Bond Street
We spoke to Director of Modern British & Irish Art, Ingram Reid, about the dialogue between these two sculptures.
Winged Figure in situ at night, April 1963 © Bowness
Winged Figure I is an icon of Hepworth's output, powerfully drawing together her key themes and concerns. Its ascending form is both architectural and ethereal, embodying her enduring fascination with the figure and the forces of nature. This is a defining work within Hepworth's oeuvre, and the original form that she returned to for her famous commission sculpture for the John Lewis Partnership's Oxford Street store. We are delighted to bring it to auction for the first time at Bonhams. A cast of the form on this scale has never before appeared at auction.
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