Doves (Group)
| Doves (Group) | |
|---|---|
| Artist | Barbara Hepworth |
| Year | 1927 |
| Type | Parian marble |
| Dimensions | 29 cm × 33 cm × 21.5 cm (11 in × 13 in × 8.5 in) |
| Location | Manchester Art Gallery |
Doves (Group) (given the catalogue number BH 3) is a 1927 sculpture by British sculptor Barbara Hepworth.[1][2]: fig. 2 It is her earliest surviving stone carving and is in the collection of the Manchester Art Gallery.[3][4]
Background
Having studied in Leeds and the Royal College of Art, Hepworth travelled to Italy when she was 21.[3] There she had her "most formative year by far", visiting Florence, Siena and Rome and meeting John Skeaping, who she would marry after a short love affair.[5] The pair studied together under Giovanni Ardini who taught them to carve marble.[3][5]
Although Doves has been said to have been carved in Italy,[3] Hepworth and Skeaping returned to London in November 1926.[6]
Hepworth had created a similar sculpture titled Dove (catalogue number BH1) in 1925 out of Carrara marble but it was reported to have been destroyed by 1952.[7][2]: fig. 1
Work
The sculpture depicts two doves sitting next to each other with their heads tucked into their feathers. The birds' forms are rounded and simple and the sculpture's base is left rough and signed and dated by Hepworth.[4]
The work is figurative,[9] making it one of Hepworth's less abstract sculptures. Hepworth and Skeaping kept doves and the sculpture was made at around life-size from an inexpensive piece of Parian marble.[10] It is an example of Hepworth using the direct carving technique.[10]
The sculpture also took inspiration from marble sculptures of mating doves by Jacob Epstein.[8]
History
The work was purchased by Manchester Art Gallery from Beaux Arts Gallery in 1942.[4] A review of an exhibition at the gallery in 1979 noted Doves as a particular highlight, with the author writing "I wonder how many visitors, like myself, could not resist stroking those cold, white, folded wings when the attendant was not looking!"[11] It was included in an exhibition of British inter-war art in 2013–14, as well as an exhibition of the gallery's sculpture collection in 2019.[4][12][13]
It has also been displayed at the 1950 Venice Biennale by the British Council,[14] in a Tate retrospective in 1968,[15] in an exhibition at Glasgow Museums in 1987,[4] and at the 2015 Tate Britain exhibition titled Barbara Hepworth: Sculpture for a Modern World.[16]
References
- ^ "Doves (Group)". BarbaraHepworth.org. Retrieved 16 March 2026.
- ^ a b Barbara Hepworth (1952). Barbara Hepworth: Carvings and Drawings (1st ed.). Lund Humphries. NB: This monograph does not have numbered pages, and so references are made to the numbered images instead.
- ^ a b c d Tim Adams (7 June 2015). "Barbara Hepworth: a life told in six works". The Guardian. Archived from the original on 7 June 2015. Retrieved 16 March 2026.
- ^ a b c d e "Doves". Manchester Art Gallery. Retrieved 16 March 2026.
- ^ a b "The Rich and Resilient Life of Barbara Hepworth". Thames and Hudson. 11 May 2022. Retrieved 16 March 2026.
- ^ "Biography". BarbaraHepworth.org. Retrieved 16 March 2026.
- ^ "Volume of sculpture records. Page 1. Photograph of 'Dove' 1925 (BH1)". Tate. Retrieved 16 March 2026.
- ^ a b "See the Evolution of Barbara Hepworth's Erotic, Lyrical Sculpture in 5 Key Works". Phaidon. Retrieved 16 March 2026.
- ^ Barbara Kiser (8 July 2015). "Sculpting deep time". A View From The Bridge. Retrieved 16 March 2026.
- ^ a b "Hepworth, Barbara: Doves". Manchester Art Gallery. Retrieved 16 March 2026.
- ^ "Visit to an oasis of art". Wilmslow & Alderley Advertiser. 23 August 1979. p. 75. Retrieved 16 March 2026 – via Newspapers.com.
- ^ "Between the Wars - Exhibition (27/04/2013 - 13/10/2014)". Manchester Art Gallery. Retrieved 16 March 2026.
- ^ "Out of the Crate: Investigating the Sculpture Collection - Collections display (07/11/2019)". Manchester Art Gallery. Retrieved 16 March 2026.
- ^ "Venice Biennale". The Guardian. 17 April 1950. p. 6. Retrieved 16 March 2026 – via Newspapers.com.
- ^ Norbert Lynton (3 April 1968). "Family reunion". The Guardian. p. 8. Retrieved 16 March 2026 – via Newspapers.com.
- ^ Nathan J. Timpano (12 May 2016). "Barbara Hepworth: Sculpture for a Modern World". CAA Reviews. doi:10.3202/caa.reviews.2016.59. Retrieved 16 March 2026.