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34 Curved Form (Orpheus), 1956 Signed and dated 'Barbara Hepworth 1956' lower left; signature, title, dimensions and date verso Oil and pencil on panel 29 7 / 8 x 28 in, 76 x 71 cm Provenance A.M. Hammacher, Brussels Private Collection, Brussels Exhibitions London, Gimpel Fils, Recent Works by Barbara Hepworth (not in catalogue), June 1956 Literature London, A.M. Hammacher, Barbara Hepworth, 1958, pl.32 Neuchâtel, J.P. Hodin, Barbara Hepworth, 1961, ref. k (illus.) London, A. Bowness, Barbara Hepworth: Drawings from a Sculptor's Landscape, 1966, pl.40 London, A.M. Hammacher, Barbara Hepworth, 1968/1987, illus. no.84, p.113 This work is included in the unpublished records of the artist under number D 345. BARBARA HEPWORTH 1903-1975 Barbara Hepworth's Curved Form (Orpheus) relates to the pivotal Orpheus series made in response to the artist's visit to Greece in 1954. With the tumultuous breakdown of her marriage to Ben Nicholson in 1951 and death of her first child, Paul, Hepworth reacted to this personal upheaval by travelling first to Venice (1950) and then to Greece as a form of renewal. Hepworth was struck by the unique light of the Medi- terranean landscape and the deep history of antiquity. Making countless notes and drawings in her sketch- book of the astonishing sounds and subtle changes in atmosphere, Hepworth recorded her fascination with the 'rhythmic…majestic landscape'. Hepworth's lyrical response to the Mediterranean countryside was also deeply influenced by the universal forces of nature that punctuated Arp's brand of organic abstraction, which had so impressed her when visiting his studio at Meudon in 1932. When Hepworth returned to St Ives later in 1954 she began to experiment with twisted sheets of copper, brass and bronze, combined with a matrix of string to create the Orpheus series. This experimentation with material echoed the increased freedom and spontaneity of Hepworth's mature drawings, which she described as 'sculptures born in the guise of two dimensions'.