Barbara Hepworth

Gimpel & Hanover Galerie, Zurich (acquired directly from the artist)
Mrs M. G. Ballantyne, Montreal (acquired from the above)
Thence by descent to the present owner

Zurich, Gimpel & Hanover Galerie, Horizonte, 1967, no. 4

Alan Bowness, The Complete Sculpture of Barbara Hepworth 1960-69, London, 1971, no. 432, illustrated pl. 155

Executed in slate; lovely deep black patina. Apart from some fine surface scratches predominantly to the base, this work is in very good original condition.
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Executed in 1966, Three Forms (October 3rd) is a significant example of Barbara Hepworth’s mature slate sculptures. Whilst Hepworth’s earliest works had utilised organic materials such as wood and stone, she had focussed increasingly on working in metal - particularly bronze - during the 1940s and 1950, and her decision to commence a series of slate sculptures in 1963 thus signified a return to some of her earliest creative concerns. Chris Stephens has discussed the importance of slate within Hepworth’s œuvre: ‘Though rare as a material for sculpture, she embraced the use of slate with particular enthusiasm. It has been claimed that the first slate Hepworth carved had come from a discarded snooker table in a local games hall. Later, however, she acquired the material from the world-famous Delabole quarry near her home in Cornwall. She preferred slate from the deeper beds of the quarry, which tended to be harder and more black… Slate provided a dark black material with little textural modulation, a counterpart perhaps to Hepworth’s much loved white marble’ (quoted in Barbara Hepworth (exhibition catalogue), Valencia, Institut Valencià d’Art Modern, 2004, p. 107).

Three Forms (October 3rd) reveals Hepworth’s interest in conveying the interaction between forms, a concern which had first emerged within her work following her observation of figures engaging with each other in the Piazza San Marco during a trip to Venice in 1949. Within the present work, the three elements seem to turn towards each other, as though involved in a form of mute communication. However, Three Forms (October 3rd) also suggests the influence of the mysterious Menhirs, or standing stones, which Hepworth would have encountered within the wild Cornish landscape. Alan G. Wilkinson makes reference to this sense of mystery and wonder within Hepworth’s later works, noting that these saw ‘the introduction of themes hinting at myth, magic and fantasy’ (quoted in: Barbara Hepworth: A Retrospective (exhibition catalogue), Liverpool, Tate Gallery & Toronto, Art Gallery of Ontario, 1994-95, p. 112). Exuding a commanding sense of presence and power, Three Forms (October 3rd) displays Hepworth’s astonishing control of her medium to superb effect. Charmingly, the title refers to the birthday of the triplets born to Hepworth and Ben Nicholson in 1934.