Curved Form (1961)

Barbara Hepworth

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photo Aad Hoogendoorn

photo Aad Hoogendoorn

photo Aad Hoogendoorn

photo Aad Hoogendoorn

photo Aad Hoogendoorn

photo Aad Hoogendoorn

The artwork

Concert and conference center de Doelen has a substantial (postwar) art collection, including the sculpture Curved Form by world-renowned British artist Barbara Hepworth. In Hepworth’s sculptures, the viewer is captured by the mysterious power of playing spaces. The organic female form of Curved Form (1961) is broken by an open curvature, creating an awareness of intrinsic space. The opening is part of the form and it brings it into contact with the surrounding space. Making connections through the taut cables seem to represent vibrations, emotions or experiences, but the transparency remains. Hepworth is one of the leading sculptors in abstract sculpture in the mid-20th century. On March 8, 2022, International Women’s Day, the foyer where the sculpture stands was renamed the Barbara Hepworth Foyer.

Year
1961
Location
De Doelen, Schouwburgplein
Dimensions
heighte 2.12 m
Material
bronze
Owner
Gemeente Rotterdam, collection de Doelen

The location

de Doelen

Barbara Hepworth

Barbara Hepworth

Barbara Hepworth (Wakefield, 1903 – St. Ives, 1975) studied at the Leeds School of Art and The Royal College of Art in England, where she was trained in the academic tradition. Her work is considered part of the abstract art movement, which at the time still evoked much resistance. At the beginning of the 1960s, at the end of her career, Hepworth gained great international fame and with it status, prizes and large commissions. In 1965, she received the Order of the British Empire. At age 72, she died in a fire at her studio in St. Ives, Cornwall. Her studio and her home today form the Barbara Hepworth Museum and Sculpture Garden.

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