Dame Barbara Hepworth

The artist's studio
Gimpel Fils Ltd., London
Acquired from the above on November 9, 1965

Involute II is one of a number of smaller sculptures conceived by Hepworth in early 1956.  Hepworth’s burgeoning international reputation initiated several important changes in her working practices, chief among these the use of assistants to help her in the preparatory stages of creating sculptures and the carving of plaster specifically for casting in bronze. This work reflects these changes in technique, and in contrast to the earlier and larger Involute, the surfaces of the work are heavily textured, highlighting the uneven nature of the original plaster cast and giving the sculpture a distinctively organic feel.

This elemental form reflects Hepworth’s interest in the natural world, and the spiralling lines of the piece seem reminiscent of the membranes of snail shells. It was through the echoing of these common forms that Hepworth sought to evoke a sense of the natural world and root her works in the surrounding landscape.  As she commented following her move to St. Ives, “landscape… has a very deep effect on me, developing all my ideas about the relationship of the human figure in landscape – sculpture in landscape” (Herbert Read, Art and Society, 1952, section 4).