Two Figures

Two Figures is a bronze sculpture by the English sculptor Barbara Hepworth, which was cast in an edition of seven copies. One of these is located at Newfields, the campus that also houses the Indianapolis Museum of Art in Indianapolis, Indiana. Other casts are at Southampton University (on loan from the Hepworth Estate), the Fred Jones Jr. Museum of Art at the University of Oklahoma, Commonwealth Park in Canberra Australia, and the Hakone Open-Air Museum, Hakone, Japan. The series were cast at the Morris Singer Foundry in London from 1968 onwards. Another cast of this work could also be found at the University of Birmingham Vale site, but is no longer present as of January 2, 2012. Description Upon the rectilinear base stand two highly stylized figures. Each figure is somewhat lozenge-shaped and rises vertically. Each has a frontal, symmetrical, flat surface that contrasts with the gentle curve of the surfaces on the other sides. These flat surfaces are not quite parallel to the front edge of the base but instead slightly angle in toward each other. Both figures have narrow bases compared to the widths higher up, and they terminate on top with a flat, horizontal panel perpendicular to the front. The front of each figure has deep, circular holes, characteristic of Hepworth’s sculptures. Generally the bronze is smooth, with texture in the form of low-lying patches (a difference in depth similar to a thick layer of paint). It is patinated a rich dark brown color. The sculpture is seated on a limestone base. There are subtle differences between the two figures. The one on the proper right (PR) is slightly shorter than its partner on the proper left (PL). PR’s shape bows outward just above the midpoint of the figure, more than doubling its base width before tapering in again toward the top to approximately the same width as the base. The figure is filled out on the back as though the silhouette of the front face were rotated on its vertical axis, so that any given horizontal cross section would be semicircular. There are two important circular holes cut into the front surface. The higher one, placed a little less than ¾ up the height of the figure, is diametrically larger and pierces cylindrically through the entire sculpture, creating a window to the other side. The inner surface of the hole was originally patinated a dusty light green.