Head (Elegy)
Date
(1952)
Artist
Barbara Hepworth, British, b. Wakefield, England, 1903–1975
Provenance
The artist, Cornwall, 1952-ca. 1955
Martha Jackson Gallery, New York, ca. 1955-January 25, 1957
Joseph H. Hirshhorn purchased from Martha Jackson Gallery, New York, 1957
Gift of Joseph H. Hirshhorn, 1966
Exhibition History
Lefevre Gallery, London. "New Sculpture and Drawings by Barbara Hepworth," October 1952, no. 15 (as "Head (elegy)").
Whitechapel Art Gallery, London. "Barbara Hepworth: A Retrospective Exhibition of Carvings and Drawings from 1927 to 1954," April 8 - June 6, 1954, no. 148, p. 28, pl. 0 (as "Head," 1953, Collection the artist).
Walker Art Center, Minneapolis. "Barbara Hepworth: Carvings and Drawings 1937 - 1954," April 15 - May 29, 1955 (organized by the Martha Jackson Gallery, NY), no. 15. Tour: University of Nebraska Art Galleries, Lincoln, June 15 - August 15, 1955; San Francisco Museum of Art, September 1 - October 16, 1955; Albright Art Gallery, Buffalo, November 9 - December 15, 1955; Art Gallery of Toronto, January 1 - February 15, 1956; Montreal Museum of Fine Arts, March 1 - 31, 1956; Baltimore Museum of Art, April 15 - June 30, 1956 (2 more museums July - November); Martha Jackson Gallery, NY, December 19, 1956 - January 26, 1957.
Detroit Institute of Arts. "Sculpture in Our Time: Collected by Joseph H. Hirshhorn," May 5 - August 23, 1959, no. 105; ill. p. 48. Tour: Milwaukee Art Center, September 10 - October 11, 1959; Walker Art Center, Minneapolis October 25 - December 6, 1959; William Rockhill Nelson Gallery of Art, Kansas City, Missouri, December 20, 1959 - January 31, 1960; Museum of Fine Arts, Houston, March 1 - 27, 1960; Los Angeles County Museum of History, Science, and Art, April 11 - May 15, 1960; M.H. De Young Memorial Museum, San Francisco, May 29 - July 10, 1960; Colorado Springs Fine Arts Center, July 24 - September 4, 1960; Art Gallery of Toronto, September 30 - October 31, 1960.
Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum, New York. "Modern Sculpture from the Joseph H. Hirshhorn Collection," October 3, 1962 - January 3, 1963, p. 217, no. 206, ill. p. 152.
Tate Gallery, London. "Barbara Hepworth," April 3 - May 19, 1968, no. 64, ill. p. 25.
Hirshhorn Museum and Sculpture Garden, Smithsonian Institution, Washington, DC, "Barbara Hepworth: The Hirshhorn Museum Collection," April 23 - July 19, 1981 (no catalog).
Hirshhorn Museum and Sculpture Garden, Smithsonian Institution, Washington, DC, "Direct Carving in Modern Sculpture: Selections from the Museum's Collection," October 6 - November 27, 1983, no. 20.
HIRSHHORN MUSEUM AND SCULPTURE GARDEN, Smithsonian Institiution, Washington, DC. "Put It This Way: (Re)Visions of the Hirshhorn Collection," 24 June 2022-16 July 2023, no cat.
Published References
Heron, Patrick. "Barbara Hepworth--Carver, " Arts Digest 29/15 (May 1, 1955), p. 9.
Read, Herbert. The Art of Sculpture (London: Faber and Faber, 1956), ill. 213 (erroneously credited to University of Nebraska Art Gallery).
Laverne, George. "In the Galleries: Barbara Hepworth," Arts 31 (February 1957), p. 54.
Hammacher, A.M. Barbara Hepworth (Cologne and Berlin: Kiepenheuer and Witsch, 1958; English trans., London: Universe Books, 1959), ill. 15.
Detroit News, (May 3, 1959), p. 25.
Fish, Margaret. "Moderns' Diversity Dominates Great Sculpture Show," Milwaukee Sentinel (September 27, 1959), ill. p. D-6.
Kulterman, Udo. "Englische Plastik der Gegenwart," Das Kunstwerk 12/7 (January 1959), ill. p. 6.
Duval, Paul. "Accent on Art: You Must Take a Look at this Fine Collection," Toronto Telegram (October 1, 1960), ill.
Toronto Daily Star (October 1, 1960), ill.
Hodin, J.P. Barbara Hepworth (New York: David McKay, 1961), no. 184, ill.
Kaufman, Betty. "Hirshhorn: The Collector's Art." Commonweal 77 (November 9, 1962), p. 182.
Hammacher, A.M. The Sculpture of Barbara Hepworth (English trans. New York: Harry N. Abrams, 1968), ill. p. 122.
Goldwater, Robert. What is Modern Sculpture? (New York: Museum of Modern Art, 1969), ill, p. 61.
Hammacher, A.M. The Evolution of Modern Sculpture: Tradition and Innovation (New York: Harry N. Abrams, 1969), ill. p. 252.
Rhinelander, Philip H. Is Man Comprehensible to Man? ( Stanford University: The Portable Stanford, Summer 1973), ill. p. 67 (reprt. San Franscisco: WH Freeman, 1974).
Lerner, Abram et al. The Hirshhorn Museum and Sculpture Garden (New York: Harry N. Abrams, 1974), pp. 434, 702, ill. no. 627 (not in exhibition).
Unsigned. "Sculptural Purist," MD (Medical News Magazine) 18/11 (November 1974), ill. p. 129 (reprt. in Spanish trans., 14/11, November 1976, ill. p. 87).
Kavier, Ellen. Sculpture (New York: Newsweek Books, 1975), ill. p. 147.
WOMEN'S PROGRAM OF THE SMITHSONIAN INSTITUTION. Women Artists: A Checklist of Works in the Hirshhorn Museum and Sculpture Garden Collection (Washington, DC: Smithsonian Institution, 1979), ill.
Rosenfeld, Lucy Davidson. Women Artists from Ancient to Modern Times (Portland: J Weston Walch, 1989), p. 42.
Liebson, Milt. Direct Wood Sculpture: Techniques, Innovation, Creativity (Atlglen, PA: Schiffer Publishing, 2001), p. 90.
AQUIN, STEPHANE, et al. Hirshhorn Museum and Sculpture Garden: The Collection (New York: DelMonico Books, 2022), pl. 98, p. 115.
See more items in
Hirshhorn Museum and Sculpture Garden Collection
School
British Modernist Sculpture
Credit Line
Hirshhorn Museum and Sculpture Garden, Smithsonian Institution, Washington, DC, Gift of Joseph H. Hirshhorn, 1966
Data Source
Hirshhorn Museum and Sculpture Garden
Accession Number
66.2438
Type
Sculpture
Medium
Mahogany and string on wood base
Dimensions
18 1/2 × 10 1/2 × 8 in. (47 × 26.7 × 20.3 cm)
