DAME BARBARA HEPWORTH | Atlantic (Project for Sculpture)

Acquired directly from the Artist by Robert Radford, USA, March 1961
Sale, Sotheby's New York, 15th May 1977, lot 719, where acquired by the present owner

The canvas is original. The canvas undulates very slightly in places. There are a number of very fine, singular lines of craquelure scattered in a small number of places to the canvas. The paint is very slightly lifting in a crack in the parabolic curve. There are a couple of very fine stretcher bar marks towards the lower edge, in the lower right corner. There is one match-head sized fleck of loss at the centre of the extreme lower edge. There is some very light cracking along all of the edges of the canvas. There is some probable restoration in the extreme lower left corner. There are some accretions and other studio matter in the paint surface and some light surface dirt. This excepting the work appears to be in very good overall condition. Inspection under ultraviolet light reveals a number of delicately executed, localised areas of retouching scattered throughout. The presence of retouching in the lower left corner is also confirmed. There are further instances of fluorescence that appear in line with the Artist's materials and workings. The work is float mounted within a gilt wood frame. Please telephone the department on +44 (0) 207 293 6424 if you have any questions regarding 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."

‘Abstract drawing has always been for me a particularly exciting adventure. First there is only one’s mood; then the surface takes one’s mood in colour and texture; then a line or curve, which … has a particular kind of “bite” rather like incising on slate, then one is lost in a new world of a thousand possibilities because the next line in association with the first will have a compulsion about it which will carry one forward into completely unknown territory.’ (Barbara Hepworth, quoted in Herbert Read (intro.), Barbara Hepworth, Carvings and Drawings, Lund Humphries, London, 1952)

We are grateful to Dr Sophie Bowness for her kind assistance with the cataloguing apparatus for the present work, which is recorded as D 414 B in the Artist's records.