Construction 1
This was painted in 1965, the year that Hepworth was made a Dame Commander of the British Empire and the first female trustee of the Tate Gallery. It was also the year that she was diagnosed with cancer of the tongue. This painting is an abstract image relating to the Crucifixion. It - along with another paintings titled 'Construction II' - relates to a major sculpture called ‘Construction (Crucifixion)' made a couple of years later (1966-67), a cast of which is at Salisbury Cathedral. These works are considered to relate to the strengthening of Hepworth’s Christian faith. She said of the sculpture; “I’d been experimenting with colour in relation to bronze, and I wanted to go free and hang up a circle, why shouldn’t I? It seems to upset people. I find it very serene and quiet. I had been very ill and wanted to do it, it had been boiling in my mind”.
1965
Oil and pencil on gesso-prepared board
88.3 x 101.0cm
75
© Bowness. Image courtesy of The Ingram Collection
This work is part of The Ingram Collection of Modern British & Contemporary Art and was on loan to the Lightbox for the exhibition "Redressing the balance: Women Artists from The Ingram Collection" (11 August - 20 September 2020).
This work is part of The Ingram Collection of Modern British & Contemporary Art and was on loan to the Lightbox for the exhibition "Redressing the balance: Women Artists from The Ingram Collection" (11 August - 20 September 2020).
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Dame Barbara Hepworth, Construction 1
Redressing the Balance: Women Artists from The Ingram Collection
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