''Single Form'' (BH 325) is a monumental bronze sculpture by the British artist
Barbara Hepworth
Dame Jocelyn Barbara Hepworth (10 January 1903 – 20 May 1975) was an English artist and sculptor. Her work exemplifies Modernism and in particular modern sculpture. Along with artists such as Ben Nicholson and Naum Gabo, Hepworth was a leadi ...
. It is her largest work, and one of her most prominent public commissions, displayed since 1964 in a circular water feature that forms a traffic island at the
Headquarters of the United Nations
zh, 联合国总部大楼french: Siège des Nations uniesrussian: Штаб-квартира Организации Объединённых Наций es, Sede de las Naciones Unidas
, image = Midtown Manhattan Skyline 004.jpg
, im ...
in
New York City
New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the List of United States cities by population, most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the L ...
, outside the
United Nations Secretariat Building
The United Nations Secretariat Building is a skyscraper within the headquarters of the United Nations in the Turtle Bay neighborhood of Manhattan in New York City. It contains the offices of the United Nations Secretariat, the executive organ ...
and the
Dag Hammarskjöld Library
The Dag Hammarskjöld Library is a library on the grounds of the headquarters of the United Nations, located in the Turtle Bay/East Midtown neighborhood of Manhattan in New York City. It is connected to the Secretariat and Conference buildings ...
. It is also the largest artwork cast by the
Morris Singer
Morris Singer is a British art foundry, recognised as the oldest fine art foundry in the world. Its predecessor, Singer was established in 1848 in Frome, Somerset, by John Webb Singer, as the Frome Art Metal Works.
The Singer Art Foundry was famou ...
foundry.
Copies of a smaller version, ''Single Form (Memorial)'' (BH 314),
are on public display outside the
Johns Hopkins University
Johns Hopkins University (Johns Hopkins, Hopkins, or JHU) is a private university, private research university in Baltimore, Maryland. Founded in 1876, Johns Hopkins is the oldest research university in the United States and in the western hem ...
's
Paul H. Nitze School of Advanced International Studies
The Paul H. Nitze School of Advanced International Studies (SAIS) is a graduate school of Johns Hopkins University based in Washington, D.C., United States, with campuses in Bologna, Italy, and Nanjing, China. It is consistently ranked one of the ...
in
Washington, D.C.
)
, image_skyline =
, image_caption = Clockwise from top left: the Washington Monument and Lincoln Memorial on the National Mall, United States Capitol, Logan Circle, Jefferson Memorial, White House, Adams Morgan, ...
and in
Battersea Park
Battersea Park is a 200-acre (83-hectare) green space at Battersea in the London Borough of Wandsworth in London. It is situated on the south bank of the River Thames opposite Chelsea and was opened in 1858.
The park occupies marshland reclai ...
in London. The version in Battersea Park was granted a Grade II*
listing in January 2016.
Description
The sculpture is a largely flat, irregular shape, broadly oval, pierced near the top by a circular hole. The flat surfaces are pitted and scored with three intersecting lines – one broadly vertical, and two broadly horizontal – on each face, reflecting its casting in separate pieces. In 1970, the art critic
Edwin Mullins
Edwin Mullins (born 1933) is a British art critic, novelist, and television presenter. Among his books is a monograph on Georges Braque. His television series include ''A Love Affair with Nature'' (Channel 4, 1985)Mullins, 1985. Introduction, page ...
suggested: "it is a torso, it is a profile with an eye, it is an expanse of space in which the sun rises, it is a blade, it is a human hand ... raised flat in a sign of authority, or of salute, or as a gesture of allegiance". In 1974 the art critic
Dore Ashton
Dore Ashton (May 21, 1928 – January 30, 2017) was a writer, professor and critic on modern and contemporary art.
Biography
Ashton was born in Newark, New Jersey on May 21, 1928. She was the author or editor of more than thirty books on art, in ...
suggested it is a "vision of the cosmos".
Background
The work was commissioned by the
Jacob and Hilda Blaustein Foundation
Jacob (; ; ar, يَعْقُوب, Yaʿqūb; gr, Ἰακώβ, Iakṓb), later given the name Israel, is regarded as a patriarch of the Israelites and is an important figure in Abrahamic religions, such as Judaism, Christianity, and Islam. Jac ...
as a memorial to the UN Secretary General
Dag Hammarskjöld
Dag Hjalmar Agne Carl Hammarskjöld ( , ; 29 July 1905 – 18 September 1961) was a Swedish economist and diplomat who served as the second Secretary-General of the United Nations from April 1953 until his death in a plane crash in September 196 ...
after his death in an air crash in Africa in 1961.
Jacob Blaustein
Jacob Blaustein (September 30, 1892 – November 15, 1970) was an American entrepreneur, philanthropist, and diplomat who founded the American Oil Company with his father Louis Blaustein. Blaustein was an ardent supporter of human rights, the ...
had served as the United States delegate to the United Nations. Hammarskjöld was a collector of Hepworth's works, including her 1937–38 sandalwood sculpture ''Single Form'' (BH 103) which he displayed in his United Nations office (now in the Dag Hammarskjöld Museum at
Backåkra
Dag Hammarskjöld's farm Backåkra (), close to Ystad in southern Sweden, was bought in 1957 as a summer residence by Hammarskjöld, then Secretary-General of the United Nations (1953-1961). The farm was in decline and its restoration came to last ...
in Sweden). He had discussed with Hepworth the possibility of her being commissioned for a work at the United Nations Headquarters. She may have started work, expecting a commission, before Hammarskjöld's death: the commission was formally ratified by the United Nations in September 1962.
Sculpture
Hepworth had started work that led to the bronze in 1961. ''Single Form (Chûn Quoit)'' (BH 311) was cast in bronze in an edition of seven in 1961, with its shape marked with an inscribed circle. Her similar wood sculpture from 1961, ''Single Form (September)'' (BH 312), in figured walnut, has a circular depression on one face near the top. It is owned by the Tate Gallery and displayed at the
Barbara Hepworth Museum
The Barbara Hepworth Museum and Sculpture Garden in St Ives, Cornwall preserves the 20th-century sculptor Barbara Hepworth's studio and garden much as they were when she lived and worked there. She purchased the site in 1949 and lived and work ...
in
St Ives, Cornwall
St Ives ( kw, Porth Ia, meaning "Ia of Cornwall, St Ia's cove") is a seaside town, civil parish and port in Cornwall, England. The town lies north of Penzance and west of Camborne on the coast of the Celtic Sea. In former times it was commerci ...
. Hepworth was working on the walnut sculpture when she received news of Hammarskjöld's death in September 1961, and named it after that month. Another related work is Hepworth's 1961 bronze ''Curved Form (Bryher II)'': a similar shape, pierced with a hole, with copper strings; an example was sold at auction at Christie's in 2013.
[Sale 1122: Modern British Art Evening Sale, 10 July 2013]
. Christie's. christies.com. Retrieved 23 November 2018.
She moved the depression, which became a hole, in the larger high ''Single Form (Memorial)'' (BH 314) bronze from 1961. ''Single Form (September)'' and a plaster model of ''Single Form (Memorial)'' were included in the Hepworth exhibition at the
Whitechapel Art Gallery
The Whitechapel Gallery is a public art gallery in Whitechapel on the north side of Whitechapel High Street, in the London Borough of Tower Hamlets. The original building, designed by Charles Harrison Townsend, opened in 1901 as one of the fir ...
in May–June 1962. (The year before, Hepworth had completed ''
Meridian
Meridian or a meridian line (from Latin ''meridies'' via Old French ''meridiane'', meaning “midday”) may refer to
Science
* Meridian (astronomy), imaginary circle in a plane perpendicular to the planes of the celestial equator and horizon
* ...
'', and was working on ''Maquette (Three Forms in Echelon)'' for the John Lewis store on Oxford Street, which became ''
Winged Figure
''Winged Figure'' (BH 315) is a 1963 sculpture by British artist Barbara Hepworth. One of Hepworth's best known works, it has been displayed in London since April 1963, on Holles Street near the junction with Oxford Street, mounted on the sout ...
''.) The first completed bronze of ''Single Form (Memorial)'' was included in the open air sculpture exhibition at
Battersea Park
Battersea Park is a 200-acre (83-hectare) green space at Battersea in the London Borough of Wandsworth in London. It is situated on the south bank of the River Thames opposite Chelsea and was opened in 1858.
The park occupies marshland reclai ...
in 1963. This first cast was shipped to the US in October 1963 and retained by the Blaustein family until 2005, when it was donated to
Johns Hopkins University
Johns Hopkins University (Johns Hopkins, Hopkins, or JHU) is a private university, private research university in Baltimore, Maryland. Founded in 1876, Johns Hopkins is the oldest research university in the United States and in the western hem ...
and displayed at the
Paul H. Nitze School of Advanced International Studies
The Paul H. Nitze School of Advanced International Studies (SAIS) is a graduate school of Johns Hopkins University based in Washington, D.C., United States, with campuses in Bologna, Italy, and Nanjing, China. It is consistently ranked one of the ...
in
Washington, D.C.
)
, image_skyline =
, image_caption = Clockwise from top left: the Washington Monument and Lincoln Memorial on the National Mall, United States Capitol, Logan Circle, Jefferson Memorial, White House, Adams Morgan, ...
A second cast was made in 1963, bought by
London County Council
London County Council (LCC) was the principal local government body for the County of London throughout its existence from 1889 to 1965, and the first London-wide general municipal authority to be directly elected. It covered the area today kno ...
for 6,000 guineas and installed at
Battersea Park
Battersea Park is a 200-acre (83-hectare) green space at Battersea in the London Borough of Wandsworth in London. It is situated on the south bank of the River Thames opposite Chelsea and was opened in 1858.
The park occupies marshland reclai ...
in 1964, where it remains on the south shore of the lake. It measures .
Hepworth doubled the size of ''Single Form (Memorial)'' to create a full-size armature at the
Palais de Danse annex to her studio in St Ives in early 1963, in wood covered with plaster. The full-size sculpture was cast in seven pieces and assembled at the
Morris Singer
Morris Singer is a British art foundry, recognised as the oldest fine art foundry in the world. Its predecessor, Singer was established in 1848 in Frome, Somerset, by John Webb Singer, as the Frome Art Metal Works.
The Singer Art Foundry was famou ...
foundry in London, the lines on the surface reflecting its casting. It measures high and weighs . It was erected in New York in May 1964, standing on a granite plinth near the edge of a circular pool of water, about in diameter, with a fountain, which had been built with a $50,000 gift from the children of the United States, Puerto Rico and the US Virgin Islands; it was unveiled on 11 June 1964.
See also
*
United Nations Art Collection
The United Nations Art Collection is a collective group of artworks and historic objects donated as gifts to the United Nations by its member states, associations, or individuals. These artistic treasures and possessions, mostly in the form of “ ...
*
List of public art in Wandsworth
This is a list of public art in the London Borough of Wandsworth.
Battersea
Battersea Park
Battersea Park has a history of displaying sculpture by major artists, with large triennial exhibitions in the 1940s, 50s and 60s, although ...
Notes
References
''Single Form'' barbarahepworth.org.uk
Sculpture Unveiled at United Nations Headquarters Honours Dag Hammarskjold unmultimedia.org, 11 June 1964
February 2005
''Single Form'' (Chûn Quoit) barbarahepworth.org.uk
''Single Form (September)'' barbarahepworth.org.uk
''Single Form (September)'' Tate Gallery
''Single Form (Memorial)'' barbarahepworth.org.uk
*
{{coord, 40.74915, -73.96880, format=dms, type:landmark_region:US-NY, display=title
1964 establishments in New York City
1964 sculptures
Bronze sculptures in New York City
Grade II* listed buildings in the London Borough of Wandsworth
Headquarters of the United Nations
Turtle Bay, Manhattan
Monuments and memorials in London
Monuments and memorials in Manhattan
Outdoor sculptures in London
Sculptures by Barbara Hepworth
United Nations art collection