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| Barbara Hepworth's 'Hospital Drawings' on show in Wakefield | Barbara Hepworth's 'Hospital Drawings' on show in Wakefield |
| (about 1 month later) | |
| This autumn, the Hepworth in Wakefield will be showing a large collection of hospital drawings made by Barbara Hepworth in the 1940s. | This autumn, the Hepworth in Wakefield will be showing a large collection of hospital drawings made by Barbara Hepworth in the 1940s. |
| The sculptor was invited into the operating theatre at Exeter to create the drawings. Barbara Hepworth wrote about the experience: | The sculptor was invited into the operating theatre at Exeter to create the drawings. Barbara Hepworth wrote about the experience: |
| I expected that I should dislike it; but from the moment when I entered the operating theatre I became completely absorbed by two things: first, the co-ordination between human beings all dedicated to the saving of a life, and the way that unity of idea and purpose dictated a perfection of concentration, movement, and gesture, and secondly by the way this special grace (grace of mind and body), induce a spontaneous space composition, an articulated and animated kind of abstract sculpture very close to what I had been seeking in my own work. | I expected that I should dislike it; but from the moment when I entered the operating theatre I became completely absorbed by two things: first, the co-ordination between human beings all dedicated to the saving of a life, and the way that unity of idea and purpose dictated a perfection of concentration, movement, and gesture, and secondly by the way this special grace (grace of mind and body), induce a spontaneous space composition, an articulated and animated kind of abstract sculpture very close to what I had been seeking in my own work. |
| The invitation came about after Ben Nicholson had rushed the couple's daughter Sarah to hospital in Exeter to be treated for osteomyelitis of the thigh. Sarah was operated on by Norman Capener, who was interested in modern art and responded to Nicholson's suggestion that the wards should have "more colour" to cheer up the patients. Capener later visited Nicholson and Hepworth at their house near St Ives, where he learned to carve, and he invited Hepworth to Exeter to witness the operating theatre in action. | The invitation came about after Ben Nicholson had rushed the couple's daughter Sarah to hospital in Exeter to be treated for osteomyelitis of the thigh. Sarah was operated on by Norman Capener, who was interested in modern art and responded to Nicholson's suggestion that the wards should have "more colour" to cheer up the patients. Capener later visited Nicholson and Hepworth at their house near St Ives, where he learned to carve, and he invited Hepworth to Exeter to witness the operating theatre in action. |
| When many of the hospital drawings were first exhibited in London and New York in 1948 and 1949 they enjoyed considerable commercial success as well as critical acclaim, and works were acquired by the British Council and the Arts Council of Great Britain. | When many of the hospital drawings were first exhibited in London and New York in 1948 and 1949 they enjoyed considerable commercial success as well as critical acclaim, and works were acquired by the British Council and the Arts Council of Great Britain. |
| Norman Capener, writing (anonymously) in the exhibition catalogue in 1948, noted: | Norman Capener, writing (anonymously) in the exhibition catalogue in 1948, noted: |
| Rarely has an artist been found with both stamina and vision who can perceive and portray the sincerity and harmony, the power and beauty, the rhythm and tenderness and the simple drama of the operating theatre. Barbara Hepworth has, in these surroundings, shown us the possibilities of symphonic grouping both physically and psychologically; the spirit of enquiry, the intensity of proper solicitude, the power of the craftsman, unhurried activity, energetic poise. | Rarely has an artist been found with both stamina and vision who can perceive and portray the sincerity and harmony, the power and beauty, the rhythm and tenderness and the simple drama of the operating theatre. Barbara Hepworth has, in these surroundings, shown us the possibilities of symphonic grouping both physically and psychologically; the spirit of enquiry, the intensity of proper solicitude, the power of the craftsman, unhurried activity, energetic poise. |
| Paul Bowness, who is Hepworth's grandson and Professor of Experimental Rheumatology at Oxford University, said: | Paul Bowness, who is Hepworth's grandson and Professor of Experimental Rheumatology at Oxford University, said: |
| Barbara's operation drawings and paintings show us the surprising beauty that can be found in an operating theatre. Even for practising doctors like myself, who have assisted at many operations, she strikingly captures the intensity of concentration of hands and eyes and the harmony of all members of the operating team. | Barbara's operation drawings and paintings show us the surprising beauty that can be found in an operating theatre. Even for practising doctors like myself, who have assisted at many operations, she strikingly captures the intensity of concentration of hands and eyes and the harmony of all members of the operating team. |
| While her auction record is well over £1m for a sculpture, her two dimensional works command much lower prices. A hospital drawing, Operating Theatre, a red chalk sketch of a masked surgeon preparing for an operation, failed to reach its reserve when Sotheby's auctioned it in April 2010, it having previously been sold at Christie's in 2004 for £4,000. | While her auction record is well over £1m for a sculpture, her two dimensional works command much lower prices. A hospital drawing, Operating Theatre, a red chalk sketch of a masked surgeon preparing for an operation, failed to reach its reserve when Sotheby's auctioned it in April 2010, it having previously been sold at Christie's in 2004 for £4,000. |
| Barbara Hepworth: The Hospital Drawings, is on at the Hepworth, Wakefield, from October 27 until February 13. It includes over 30 of the 80 known hospital drawings made by Barbara Hepworth, including several never previously exhibited in public, and the artist's sketchbook. Next year the exhibition tours to Pallant House Gallery, Chichecter and Mascall's Gallery, Paddock Wood, Kent. | Barbara Hepworth: The Hospital Drawings, is on at the Hepworth, Wakefield, from October 27 until February 13. It includes over 30 of the 80 known hospital drawings made by Barbara Hepworth, including several never previously exhibited in public, and the artist's sketchbook. Next year the exhibition tours to Pallant House Gallery, Chichecter and Mascall's Gallery, Paddock Wood, Kent. |
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