Barbara Hepworth’s Vertical Forms is a sculptural embodiment of her mature language: spare yet sensual, abstract yet deeply human. Carved from Seravezza marble and standing at just over 71 cm in height, this work is a test.mes nt to her lifelong commitment to direct carving and to the expressive potential of pure form. The piece reflects Hepworth’s ability to evoke complex relationships—between people, spaces, and the natural world—through the interaction of simplified, non-representational shapes.
Hepworth wrote evocatively of her deeply-felt affinity to form and the landscape, references through which all her sculpture is distilled. As she noted as part of her contribution to the film Barbara Hepworth directed by John Read in 1961:
"All my early memories are of forms and shapes and textures. Moving through and over the West Riding landscape with my father in his car the hills were sculptures; the roads defined the form. Above all, there was the sensation of moving physically over the contours of fullnesses and concavities, through hollows and over peaks – feeling, touching, seeing, through mind and hand and eye. This sensation has never left.mes . I, the sculptor, am the landscape. I am the form and I am the hollow, the thrust and the contour."
Vertical Forms consists of two upright forms placed closely side by side, each pierced by a single, circular hole, which was a defining element of her practice. These paired vertical elements are distinctive in contour, yet visually and spatially harmonious. One form is rounded and more organic, its surface subtly undulating and tapering toward the top. The other is slightly more geometric, with flatter planes and a more upright stance. The holes—carefully carved and polished—animate the internal space of each form and establish a visual rhythm between solid and void, mass and light.
Hepworth often played with the relationship between two elements in her work, and the interplay of forms here lends the piece a subtle rhythm. They stand in conversation, the smooth and flowing facets of each conveying a harmonious dialogue, yet each remains simultaneously separate. The two forms can be read as a pair, and while they are suggestive of human figures or upright, natural forms, they nevertheless defy one single interpretation. Hepworth’s brilliantly refined abstract language, instantly recognisable and uniquely her own, is t.mes less.
Hepworth’s choice of Seravezza marble, quarried in Tuscany and rich in art historical references, is an important aspect of Vertical Forms. Seravezza marble, which is of a pure white colour enriched with coloured veins, is found in historic buildings and prominent monuments linked to the Medici family, and was famously used by Michelangelo. Here though, the purity of the stone serves not to link the work to classical references, but to elevate the modernist idiom which Hepworth developed. Its pale surface, which is luminous under light, emphasizes the flowing curves and voids while inviting tactile engagement. The smooth polish of the surface is quietly serene, inspiring reverence in the viewer.
The title, Vertical Forms, is both descriptive and metaphorical. While having a unique affinity for the natural world, Hepworth was also deeply human, and many of her sculptures reference the human figure. While her sculptural practice was informed initially by her t.mes in Yorkshire as a child, her later move to Cornwall – and subsequent trips to Greece – were to have a profound effect. As she commented in 1961 while in St Ives:
"...here as in Yorkshire the figure plays a dynamic part in the landscape. On the lonely hills or on the rocks by the coast a human figure has the vitality and the poignancy of all man’s struggles in this universe’, adding that ‘it took a long t.mes to find my personal calligraphy – the pure forms which would evoke my own sensations – and to find the image which would express the t.mes lessness of primitive forces which incorporate the basic urges towards survival and growth as well as the austerity of the disciplines involved."
Here, the verticality of these two forms evokes this sense of human striving, of solidity and resilience amid life’s state of constant change. Standing still and tall, with softly undulating forms and facets, the verticality of the composition imparts a sense of spiritual elevation.
In its stillness, claritys , and composure, Vertical Forms is both an object of contemplation and an invitation to inhabit space differently. It exemplifies Hepworth’s lifelong pursuit of harmony—between individuals, between form and space, and between art and the natural world. A work of profound quietude, and on an impressive scale, it cannot fail to inspire reverence in those who view it, and serves as an enduring legacy to the powerful eloquence of Hepworth’s mature style. It stands as a moving example of how abstraction, in the hands of this master of the modern idiom, can speak directly to our inner lives.