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SUMMER DANCE

102 by 137cm., 40 by 54in. (including base)

signed and numbered 5/6

painted, polished and patinated bronze (two pieces)

PROVENANCE

Private Collection
Sale, Sotheby's, 25th June 1975, lot 191, illustrated (as 'The Property of a Gentleman'), whence purchased by Hyman and Irene Kreitman, and thence by descent
Private Collection, Switzerland

EXHIBITED

London, Marlborough Fine Art, Barbara Hepworth: The Family of Man and Recent Carvings, 1972, no.17, illustrated in colour in the exhibition catalogue, p.52 (marble version);
New York, Wildenstein Gallery, Barbara Hepworth: Sculptures from the Estate, October - November 1996, illustrated in colour in the exhibition catalogue, p.77 (another cast).

NOTE

Originally conceived in white marble in 1971, the present work is listed as BH540.

The interaction of upright forms was one that runs throughout the works of Hepworth's last years, culminating in the large groups, The Family of Man of 1970 (BH513) and Conversation with Magic Stones of 1973 (BH567), and the present sculpture perfectly typifies the concerns that she was exploring in these sculptures, primarily that of social interaction. Throughout her career, Hepworth had been grouping together forms into coherent and balanced compositions, but in the later sculptures the sense that these forms are in some way related to the totemic depiction of primitive figures grows much stronger. Indeed, Hepworth herself described the upright figures of Conversation with Magic Stones in terms of 'the static majesty of totems'.

In its title Summer Dance also hints at the musical and social elements of the pagan that had been noted by commentators on Hepworth's work for some time. As far back as the 1930's, J.D.Bernal had drawn comparison with the ancient stone sites of Cornwall, and the artist herself freely acknowledged the powerful influence both the landscape and its pagan history had on her. The basic forms used in Summer Dance are remarkably similar to those found at two Cornish sites known to Hepworth, Men Scryfa and Men-an-tol, and thus we can begin to see how the forms can spur the imagination of the viewer into glimpsing multiple readings of the elements, human and abstract. The link with music inherent in the title is also important, as it both emphasises the concept of movement, and also ties it into her interest in, and knowledge of, music and dance. Hepworth had a musical childhood, and particularly in the 1950s she had developed a number of musical friendships, including Priaulx Rainier, Michael Tippett and Benjamin Britten. The parallel between the two Elizabethan ages drawn by the Festival of Britain in 1951 had a very positive effect in the reappraisal of much early English music and The St. Ives Festival, co-founded by Hepworth in 1953, continued this, as well as seeing the introduction of musical references to the titles of sculptures, such as Forms in Movement (Galliard) of 1956 (BH212) and Forms in Movement (Pavan) (BH453) also of 1956. Music remained an important feature of Hepworth's life and in 1954 she was invited by Tippett to design sets and costumes for his opera, The Midsummer Marriage, first performed at Covent Garden in January 1955. Central to this piece were the Ritual Dances, choreographed by John Cranko, for which Hepworth produced small sculptures to be carried by the characters, pieces which looked forward to the Orpheus sculptures (see lot 68). The idea of the relationship between sculpture and music was clear to Hepworth, and she was known to have drawn comparisons between Brancusi and Stravinsky.