Barbara Hepworth. ‘Single Form’, London.
Spring is a lovely time of year to enjoy the many leafy parks of London. I recently visited Battersea Park, located on the South side of the River Thames in Central London, to see a favourite sculpture of mine, ‘Single Form’, by Barbara Hepworth.
In 1963 London County Council (as it was then known) paid just over £6,000 for the sculpture in Battersea Park, today it must be worth upwards of £10 million.
In 1961 Barbara Hepworth was commissioned by the Jacob and Hilda Blaustein Foundation to create a sculpture in memory of Dag Hammarskjold, the UN Secretary General who died in a suspicious plane crash in the Congo, Central Africa, in the same year. Hammarskjold was a collector of Hepworth’s work and in the years before his death they had become friends. The monumental sculpture, over six metres high, was placed outside the United Nations building in New York City in 1964 where it can still be seen today.
At the same time Hepworth had several other versions cast, including the aforementioned version overlooking the boating lake in Battersea Park. This was installed for the park’s biannual sculpture exhibition, as part of the post war Festival of Britain.
‘Single Form’ has long been one of my favourite works of art and Barbara Hepworth one of my favourite artists. I have a close affinity with and emotional attachment to Cornwall in South West England, where Barbara Hepworth lived for many years until her death. The piece recalls childhood memories of annual vacations spent at the Cornish seaside, and trips to her studio in St Ives, which was preserved on her death and is now in my opinion one of the greatest art museums in the world.
There is a second beautiful sculpture in Central London by Barbara Hepworth. It is called ‘Winged Figure’ and can be seen on the Hollis Street side of the John Lewis store on Oxford Street, which I have walked or driven past hundreds of times as it is less than five minutes’ walk from Sotheby’s in Bond Street.
It was commissioned by the John Lewis Department Store and erected on the side of the store in 1963. Hepworth said that ‘one of our universal dreams is to move in air and water without the resistance of our human legs. If the ‘Winged Figure’ in Oxford Street gives people a sense of being airborne in rain and sunlight and nightlight, I will be very happy’. I know personally that when I see the sculpture it lifts my spirit.
It is a shame that there is not more sculpture on view in central London, and other cities too, as it invites people to appreciate works of art in their daily environment. Hepworth’s contributions are exceptional.