Oval Form (Trezion)

'The incoming and receding tides made strange and wonderful calligraphy on the pale granite sand which sparkled with feldspar and mica. The rich mineral deposits of Cornwall were apparent on the very surface of things: quartz, amethyst and topaz, tin and copper below in the old mine shafts, and geology and pre-history – a thousand facts induced a thousand fantasies and forms and purpose, structure and life, which had gone into the making of what I saw and what I was' (B. Hepworth, quoted in H. Read, 'Barbara Hepworth', in exhibition catalogue, Barbara Hepworth, New York, Marlborough-Gerson Gallery, 1966, n.p.). Moving to the Cornish coast in 1939, with her then husband Ben Nicholson, Hepworth became bewitched by the wild beauty of the place, captivated by the weathered cliffs and headlands, the magnificent monolithic stones and stormy seas, which lapped upon remote shores. Her admiration for her surroundings can be seen to striking effect in Oval Form (Trezion) with the artist creating a wonderfully organic, furling form, which speaks of her environs. It is also apparent in her title, with 'Trezion' referring to the house she shared with Nicholson in St Ives. Cast in a mottled green and brown patina, with a dappled and textured surface, Oval Form (Trezion) gives the impression of an object or being that has resurfaced from the sea, its hollow interior reminiscent of a rockpool, a cave, or a spiraled shell she may have found upon the beaches that surrounded her home. There is a wonderful sense of movement and animation with Hepworth deploying what appears to be a continuous curling line, which gives an impression of the work in constant flux, as if it is alive or floating under the sea. Hepworth explained her connection to the landscape and the effect that it had one her work: 'The works I do are a mixture of an ideal situation in shape and spontaneity reacting to landscape and a feeling of evoking how I feel, myself, bodily in relation to this landscape, evoking a response in the beholder to the position of man, spiritually, mentally, in his landscape and relating to the universe' (B. Hepworth, quoted in S. Bowness (ed.), Barbara Hepworth: Writings and Conversations, London, 2015, p. 175). This sense of experience was important for Hepworth who believed that one should experience sculpture not only visually, but sensually and spiritually. Although abstract in form Hepworth never lost a humanistic quality in her work, which she saw was intrinsic to her sculpture. Indeed one of the strengths of Hepworth's works is the duality between abstraction and naturalism. Alan Wilkinson reiterates, 'Hepworth's sculptures should be perceived as semi-abstract equivalents of elements of landscape and architecture, and of bodily sensations in relation to them. They are evocative rather than literal representations of the waves breaking on Porthmeor beach, or the rhythmic patterns of Greek mountains and valleys, or the movement and spaces between the columns of the Acropolis' (A.G. Wilkinson, Barbara Hepworth, Toronto, 1991, p. 22). What is perhaps most striking about Oval Form (Trezion) is Hepworth's utilisation of space and light, with the sinuous curled lines revealing an open centre, in which light can filter through. Space is now inseparable from form, with the hollow centre highlighting the tension of volume in space and the delineation of line and plane. These humanoid apertures are also reminiscent of the holes made in stones and shells by the sea. Hepworth explained, 'The carving and piercing of such a form seems to open up an infinite variety of continuous curves in the third dimension changing in accordance with the contours of original ovoid and with the degree of penetration of the material' (B. Hepworth, quoted in ibid., 1991, p. 20). The complexity of form and interplay between mass and void only became possible when Hepworth began working in bronze in the 1950s. This allowed Hepworth to extend her repertoire of forms, granting her the opportunity to create more linear, open and transparent shapes that would have been impossible to realise in stone and wood. Bronze allowed her the lightness, flexibility and freedom to create forms evocative of the ebb and flow of the waves and the roughness of the rocky coastline, as seen in Oval Form (Trezion). Dedicated to carving Hepworth only began to appreciate the sculptural possibilities of bronze in the late 1950s, she recalled, 'It took me nearly thirty years to find a way of using it …I found the most intense pleasure in this new adventure in material ... I had always hated clay and never previously liked any bronze casts of forms modelled in clay. But now I felt free to enjoy the making of the armature. I could blend it with my carving technique – by building up the plaster of Paris and then cutting it down as though carving …By treating the plaster as if it was oil paint with large flat spatulae, I built surfaces which I could then cut down when hard. This method gave me the same feeling of personal surfaces as when I prepare the boards on which I draw and paint' (B. Hepworth, quoted in S. Bowness (ed.), Barbara Hepworth: Writings and Conversations, London, 2015, pp. 158-59). The present work is the only cast of Oval Form (Trezion) in a private collection and therefore offers a rare opportunity for sale at auction. Other casts of the work are in the collection of The British Library, London; Abbot Hall Art Gallery, Kendal; Aberdeen Art Gallery, Aberdeen; Rijksmuseum Kröller-Müller, Otterlo; the Franklin D. Murphy Sculpture Garden at the University of California, Los Angeles; The Museum of New Zealand, Te Papa Tongarewa, Wellington; and Kimbell Art Mueum, Fort Worth, Texas. We are grateful to Dr Sophie Bowness for her assistance with the cataloguing apparatus for this work. Dr Sophie Bowness is preparing the revised catalogue raisonné of Hepworth's sculpture.“涨落的潮汐在泛着长石与云母光泽的浅灰色花岗岩沙地上留下了奇异而绝妙的书法痕迹。康沃尔丰富的矿藏随处可见：地表遍布石英、紫晶与黄玉，古老矿井深处埋藏着锡与铜；而此地的地质与史前风貌——千般景致引发出千般遐想与形态、目的、结构与生命，共同构成了我所见之物与我自身”（芭芭拉·赫普沃斯（B. Hepworth），引自H·里德《芭芭拉·赫普沃斯》，载展览画册《芭芭拉·赫普沃斯》，纽约马尔伯勒-杰尔森画廊（Marlborough-Gerson Gallery），1966年，无页码）。 1939年，赫普沃斯与时任丈夫本·尼科尔森（Ben Nicholson）移居康沃尔海岸，从此沉醉于这片荒野之美：被岁月侵蚀的悬崖与海岬、宏伟的独石与汹涌的海浪拍打着遥远的岸线。她对周遭环境的倾心，在《椭圆造型（特雷齐恩）（Oval Form (Trezion)）》中体现得淋漓尽致——艺术家塑造了极具有机感的舒展形态，呼应了她所处的环境。这一点也体现在作品标题中：“特雷齐恩”是她与尼科尔森在圣艾夫斯（St Ives）居所的名称。 这件铸品带有斑驳的绿棕铜绿（patina），表面带有斑驳纹理，给人一种刚从海中重现的物体或生命的观感，其中空内部令人联想到潮池、洞穴或是她在居所周边海滩上发现的螺旋贝壳。赫普沃斯运用看似连绵卷曲的线条，赋予作品绝妙的动感与生机，营造出不断变化的视觉效果，仿佛它正鲜活地在海中漂浮或游动。 赫普沃斯曾阐释自己与这片风景的联结及其对创作的影响：“我的作品是造型理想情境与对风景的即兴反应的结合，同时也承载着我作为个体在这片风景中身心所感，并唤起观者对于人类在其所处风景中的精神与心智定位，以及与宇宙的关联的共鸣”（芭芭拉·赫普沃斯（B. Hepworth），引自S·鲍内斯（S. Bowness）（编）《芭芭拉·赫普沃斯：文集与对话》，伦敦，2015年，第175页）。 这种体验感对赫普沃斯而言至关重要，她认为人们不应仅从视觉层面，更应从感官与精神层面去体验雕塑。尽管作品形式抽象，赫普沃斯始终在创作中保留人文特质，她认为这是其雕塑的内在属性。事实上，赫普沃斯作品的一大优势在于抽象与自然主义之间的二元性。艾伦·威尔金森（Alan Wilkinson）重申道：“赫普沃斯的雕塑应被视为风景、建筑元素以及与之相关的身体感受的半抽象等效物。它们并非对波尔特莫尔海滩（Porthmeor beach）海浪拍打的直白再现，亦非对希腊山峦河谷韵律的复刻，亦非对雅典卫城（Acropolis）柱廊间空间与运动的字面描摹，而是充满唤起性的意象”（A·G·威尔金森（A.G. Wilkinson），《芭芭拉·赫普沃斯》，多伦多，1991年，第22页）。 而《椭圆造型（特雷齐恩）（Oval Form (Trezion)）》最引人注目的或许是赫普沃斯对空间与光线的运用：蜿蜒卷曲的线条勾勒出开放的中心，光线可从中穿透。空间如今与形态密不可分，中空的中心凸显了空间中体积的张力，以及线条与平面的界定。这些类似人形的孔洞也令人联想到海浪在岩石与贝壳上蚀刻出的孔洞。赫普沃斯曾解释：“对这类形态的雕刻与穿孔，似乎在三维空间中开启了无穷无尽的连续曲线，其形态随原始卵形的轮廓以及材料被穿透的程度而变化”（芭芭拉·赫普沃斯（B. Hepworth），引自同上，1991年，第20页）。 直到20世纪50年代赫普沃斯开始使用青铜（bronze）创作时，这种复杂的形态以及实体与虚空的互动才得以实现。青铜拓展了赫普沃斯的创作语汇，让她得以打造更具线性感、更开放通透的造型——这在石材与木材创作中是不可能实现的。青铜赋予她轻盈感、灵活性与创作自由，得以塑造出呼应海浪起伏与岩岸粗糙质感的形态，正如《椭圆造型（特雷齐恩）（Oval Form (Trezion)）》所呈现的那样。赫普沃斯一生专注雕刻，直到20世纪50年代末才领悟到青铜的雕塑潜能。她回忆道：“我花了近三十年才找到使用它的方式……我在这场材料的全新探索中获得了极致的愉悦……我向来厌恶黏土，此前也从未喜爱过以黏土塑形再浇铸的青铜作品。但如今我得以自由地享受搭建骨架的过程。我可以将其与我的雕刻技法相结合——先搭建石膏基底，再像雕刻一样将其削除……我用大扁平刮刀处理石膏，就像处理油画颜料那样，先构建出表面，待其硬化后再加以切削。这种方法带给我如同准备画板用于绘制时一样的个人触感体验”（芭芭拉·赫普沃斯（B. Hepworth），引自S·鲍内斯（S. Bowness）（编）《芭芭拉·赫普沃斯：文集与对话》，伦敦，2015年，第158-159页）。 本次上拍的作品是《椭圆造型（特雷齐恩）（Oval Form (Trezion)）》唯一一件私人收藏的铸品，因此在拍卖会上提供了难得的收藏机会。该作品的其他铸品分别馆藏于：伦敦大英图书馆（The British Library）、肯德尔阿伯特霍尔美术馆（Abbot Hall Art Gallery）、阿伯丁阿伯丁美术馆（Aberdeen Art Gallery）、奥特洛克罗勒-穆勒国立博物馆（Rijksmuseum Kröller-Müller）、洛杉矶加利福尼亚大学富兰克林·D·墨菲雕塑花园（Franklin D. Murphy Sculpture Garden）、惠灵顿新西兰国家博物馆（The Museum of New Zealand / Te Papa Tongarewa）以及德克萨斯州沃思堡金贝尔艺术博物馆（Kimbell Art Museum）。 我们感谢索菲·鲍内斯博士（Dr Sophie Bowness）为本作品的编目工作提供的协助。索菲·鲍内斯博士正在编撰赫普沃斯雕塑作品的修订版艺术家作品总目（catalogue raisonné）。