“I cannot write anything about landscape without writing about the human figure and human spirit inhabiting the landscape. For me, the whole art of sculpture is the fusion of these two elements – the balance of sensation and evocation of man in this universe.”

—Barbara Hepworth

Barbara Hepworth’s Vertical form (St Ives), 1968-1969, is a striking example of the artist’s sculptural output, one which showcases her lifelong preoccupation with material and space. Cast in polished bronze, the present work exemplifies Hepworth’s formal vocabulary, which she developed over decades of experimentation with various media. The present work seamlessly synthesizes the organic and geometric through the subtle undulations of its surface, the precise balance of void and mass, and the intricate negative spaces that pierce the sculpture. Together, these elements invoke the interplay between landscape and the human figure, a central theme in Hepworth’s sculptural idiom. Vertical Forms (St Ives) is a testament to Hepworth’s technical mastery and conceptual ambition. Its luminous and reflective surface enhances the dynamic relationship between light and volume, a core aspect of her practice. The sculpture belongs to an edition of nine, one of which is held in the permanent collection of the Tate Gallery at the Barbara Hepworth Museum in St Ives. This example is coming to public auction for the first time, marking a rare opportunity to acquire a significant work from one of the most celebrated sculptors of the 20th century. At once timeless and contemporary, Vertical form (St Ives) stands as a refined expression of Hepworth’s sculptural vision, blending formal clarity with material intelligence.

“My approach to bronze isn’t a modeler’s approach. I like to create the armature of a bronze as if I’m building a boat, and then putting the plaster on is like covering the bones with skin and muscles. But I build up so that I can cut it. I like to carve the hard plaster surface. Even at the very last minute when it’s finished I take a hatchet to it.”

—Barbara Hepworth

Hepworth’s artistic foundations were shaped by her immersion in the currents of European modernism during the early 1930s. A formative trip to Paris brought her into direct contact with Constantin Brâncuși and Jean Arp, whose emphasis on purity of form and the inherent properties of materials themselves left a lasting impact on Hepworth’s work. She embraced the principle of truth in materials, inspired by the sculptures of Brâncuși. This concept viewed sculptural practice as a means of unveiling the intrinsic qualities of a medium, rather than imposing an artificial quality upon it. For Hepworth, this idea was both technical and philosophical – she sought to uncover a material’s essence, allowing its density, surface, and structure to determine the final form. This reverence for material integrity remained a defining feature of her practice, informing her transition from wood and stone to bronze in 1956 and her continued exploration of sculptural space. Bronze offered Hepworth more complex structural possibilities and allowed her to expand upon her formal language while preserving the tactile and gestural qualities that had defined her earlier work. Rather than modeling in clay or wax, she worked directly in plaster, carving and refining its surface before casting. This approach retained the immediacy of the artist’s hand and deepened her connection to the material—an essential aspect of her process. 

Shaped by the coastal topography of St Ives, where Hepworth lived and worked from 1939 until her death in 1975, Vertical form (St Ives) exemplifies the profound relationship between landscape and abstraction that defines her practice. Hepworth was attuned to the sculptural possibilities inherent in natural forms, a sensibility shaped by the undulating highlands of her native Yorkshire. About this influence, she once wrote, “All my early memories are of forms and shapes and textures. Moving through and over the West Riding landscape with my father in his car, the hills were sculptures; the roads defined the form. Above all, there was the sensation of moving physically over the contours of fullness and concavities, through hollows and over peaks - feeling, touching, seeing, through mind and hand and eye. This sensation has never left me. I, the sculptor, am the landscape. I am the form and the hollow, the thrust and the contour.”ⁱ

The verticality of the present work evokes both the human figure and the prehistoric menhirs that punctuate the Cornish landscape. Like many of Hepworth’s bronzes from this period, the sculpture’s open form fosters a dynamic spatial dialogue. The hole in the piece, much like the aperture of a camera, allows light and air to penetrate its structure, enhancing its interaction with the natural world. Indeed, within her sculptural practice “piercings through forms became dominant,” allowing her sculptures to ‘grow’ in open air.ⁱⁱ Her innovative use of negative space remains one of her most significant contributions to modern sculpture.

ⁱ Barbara Hepworth, A Pictorial Autobiography, London, 1970.
ⁱⁱ Four-Square (Walk Through), Norton Simon Museum, Pasadena, online.