''Two Forms (Divided Circle)'' (BH 477) is a
bronze sculpture
Bronze is the most popular metal for Casting (metalworking), cast metal sculptures; a cast bronze sculpture is often called simply "a bronze". It can be used for statues, singly or in groups, reliefs, and small statuettes and figurines, as w ...
by
Barbara Hepworth, designed in 1969. Six numbered copies were cast, plus one (0/6) retained by the sculptress.
The sculpture's dimensions are by by .
The front of the base has "Barbara Hepworth 1969" inscribed on it followed by the number of the sculpture, as well as "Morris , Singer , FOUNDERS , LONDON", both inscribed by casting.
The sculpture is considered to be one of Britain's most recognisable works.
The sculpture is late work by Hepworth, created only 6 years before her death in a fire at her studio in
St Ives in 1975. It includes two vertical bronze semi-circles forming a broken circle approximately across, each pieced pierced by one large hole. Both elements are welded to a bronze base. All three elements are hollow, and were cast in London by
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 ...
.
Hepworth designed the work after being diagnosed with cancer in 1966. She wanted the viewer's body to be engaged with her work, saying: "You can climb through the Divided Circle – you don't need to do it physically to experience it."
Hepworth also made a series of nine
maquette
A ''maquette'' (French word for scale model, sometimes referred to by the Italian names ''plastico'' or ''modello'') is a scale model or rough draft of an unfinished sculpture. An equivalent term is ''bozzetto'', from the Italian word for "sketc ...
s about tall, ''Maquette for Divided Circle'', cast in polished bronze.
Casts
See also
*
List of heists in the United Kingdom
A heist is a theft of cash or valuable objects such as artworks, jewellery or bullion. This can take the form of either a burglary or a robbery, the difference in English and Welsh law being that a robbery uses force (which means that some of ...
*''
Reclining Figure 1969–70''
References
External links
*
{{Public art in London, other works
Bronze sculptures in the United Kingdom
1969 sculptures
Modernist sculpture
Bronze sculptures in the United States
Sculptures by Barbara Hepworth
Stolen works of art