This lithograph by famed English artist Barbara Hepworth (1903-1975) depicts an abstract composition of black lines and circular designs against a bright field of lemon yellow. Hepworth, a prominent modernist artist amongst the St. Ives, Cornwall colony of creatives during the Second World War, is best remembered for her sculptures, making this lithograph a rare find for the savvy collector. Housed in a sleek, contemporary black frame, this original lithograph is signed and numbered 20/30 by the artist along the bottom of the woven paper.
About the Artist:
Dame Barbara Hepworth was born on January 10th, 1903 in Wakefield, West Riding of Yorkshire, the eldest daughter to a middle class family. Proficient in music and the arts, Hepworth won a scholarship to study at the Leeds School of Art in 1920, where she met Henry Moore, whom she would befriend and maintain a friendly rivalry throughout their professional careers. Despite the isolation of working in a male-dominated environment, Hepworth won a second scholarship to attend the Royal College of Art in 1921 and studied there until her graduation in 1924. After graduation, Hepworth traveled to Italy and learned how to carve marble from sculptor Giovanni Ardini, marrying fellow sculptor John Skeaping and having her first child before moving back to London. Hepworth fell in love with painter Ben Nicholson, who she would marry in 1938, while becoming highly interested in abstraction and she later traced to Paris to visit the studios of Pablo Picasso, Jean Arp, and Constantin Brancusi. The breakout of World War II brought new challenges to Hepworth, who maintained her career while also raising triplets. In 1939, Hepworth and her family moved to St. Ives in Cornwall, where she would live the rest of her life. Hepworth continued working and, despite her ambivalence toward international market recognition, she eventually established gallery relationships in the United States in the 1950s before expanding her studio space in 1960. Working on large scale commissions, Hepworth began experimenting with lithography in her later work and received a Commander of the Most Excellent Order of the British Empire in 1958, followed by a Dame Commander of the Most Excellent Order of the British Empire in 1965. Hepworth remained working until her death at the hands of an accidental fire in her studio in 1975 at the age of 72. Her studio and home have since become the Barbara Hepworth Museum and her work has been shown throughout the world, including major retrospectives and exhibitions at the Tate and the Heide Museum of Modern Art.
This lithograph is amongst hundreds of pieces of art that are available at our location in Grandview! Come in today and see the full collection.