Kneeling Figure

A high resolution capture of Barbara Hepworth's Kneeling Figure. This represents the artists early concern with carving directly in wood or stone, rather than first creating a clay maquette, as well as the principle of ‘truth to materials’. The natural vertical form of the wood lent itself to the representation of a kneeling figure, while the varied nature of the grain and sequence of knots dictated its outcome. As with many of her contemporaries, Hepworth was interested in the sculpture of early non-Western cultures, evident here. Kneeling Figure was acquired by Ernest Musgrave, the inaugural Director of the former Wakefield Art Gallery following Hepworth’s first exhibition in her home town in 1944.