Dame Barbara Hepworth

The Artist, by whom gifted to Maurice and Vivienne Wohl
Their sale, Christie's London, 6th June 2008, lot 169, where acquired by the present owner 

J.P. Hodin, Barbara Hepworth, London, 1961, cat. no.245, illustrated p.170,(another cast);
A. M. Hammacher, Barbara Hepworth, Thames and Hudson, London, 1987, illustrated p.139 (State House cast illustrated);
Penelope Curtis and Alan G. Wilkinson, Barbara Hepworth: A Retrospective, 1994, Tate Gallery exhibition catalogue, p.105, illustrated pp.144-145 (State House cast illustrated).

There are areas of minor verdigris and casting residue in the underside of surfaces and dirt has gathered in some of the crevices, otherwise the work appears in good overall condition. The work is held on a marble base. Please telephone the department on 0207 293 6424 if you have any questions about the present work.
"In response to your inquiry, we are pleased to provide you with a general report of the condition of the property described above. Since we are not professional conservators or restorers, we urge you to consult with a restorer or conservator of your choice who will be better able to provide a detailed, professional report. Prospective buyers should inspect each lot to satisfy themselves as to condition and must understand that any statement made by Sotheby's is merely a subjective, qualified opinion. Prospective buyers should also refer to any Important Notices regarding this sale, which are printed in the Sale Catalogue.
NOTWITHSTANDING THIS REPORT OR ANY DISCUSSIONS CONCERNING A LOT, ALL LOTS ARE OFFERED AND SOLD AS IS" IN ACCORDANCE WITH THE CONDITIONS OF BUSINESS PRINTED IN THE SALE CATALOGUE."

The late 1950s and early 1960s were a particularly fruitful and prolific time for Barbara Hepworth, during which her international reputation was cemented. The recipient of the Grand Prix at the São Paolo Bienal in 1959, Hepworth also embarked upon a series of commissions for public sculpture, including Winged Figure (1961-2) and Single Form (1961-4). In 1958 she was commissioned through Lilian Somerville of the British Council to create a monumental outdoor bronze for State House in High Holborn, London, which was in the process of being constructed by Maurice Wohl's company. She began working on plaster models for the commission almost immediately and Meridian (1958-60, fig.1) was eventually installed in January 1960 and unveiled that March by Sir Philip Hendy, then Director of the National Gallery.  The State House was demolished in 1990 and Meridian was acquired for the headquarters of PepsiCo in Purchase, New York State.

Hepworth visited the site prior to beginning work on the project and she stated during an interview at the time:

'With this commission I felt no hesitation whatsoever. By next morning I saw the sculpture in my mind quite clearly. I made my first maquette, and from this, began the armature for the working model. The architect must create a valid space for sculpture so that it becomes organically part of our spiritual perception as well as our three dimensional life. To do less is to destroy sculpture and admit to an impoverished architecture' ( The Artist, quoted in Penelope Curtis and Alan G. Wilkinson, op. cit., 1994, pp. 154-5).

Hepworth was clearly extremely concerned with the environment in which her public pieces were displayed and it was through her recommendation that the architect Harold Mortimer used Cornish Granite and had the wall heightened to accommodate the piece, 'to make Meridian look perfect' (a letter from Hepworth to Gimpel Fils, 20 January 1960, quoted in Penelope Curtis and Alan G. Wilkinson, op. cit., 1994, p.155).

Large scale public projects such as this one were inevitably time consuming and labour intensive and Hepworth wrote to Ben Nicholson at Christmas 1958 that 'the big job for Holborn is a fantastic experience which I would not have missed, tho' the bigger the sculpture the less money one makes, but it is going much slower than anticipated' (quoted in Penelope Curtis and Alan G. Wilkinson, op.cit., 1994, p.155). In order to compensate for this monetary impediment, the plaster maquettes that were produced during the process were swiftly cast and sold through Gimpel Fils in London and Galerie Charles Lienhard in Zurich. Three related forms were cast in editions including Garden Sculpture (Model for Meridian) (1958), the present work being a cast of the smallest version. While part of the ongoing process, Hepworth also saw these casts as separate pieces in themselves. Commenting on Garden Sculpture (Model for Meridian) she claimed 'It is not the sort of sculpture to go in a corner because it is so exciting all the way around & seeing through it,' emphasizing its qualities in the round, elements lost in Meridian due to its final placement against the wall.

The present work will be recorded in the forthcoming Hepworth catalogue raisonné as BH520.