Turning Forms

Turning Forms (BH 166) is a concrete sculpture by Barbara Hepworth, one of her first public commissions, made in 1950 for the Festival of Britain. It was one of two Hepworth commissions for the Festival: the other was a sculpture of abstract standing figures, Contrapunctal Forms.

The abstract work stands 84 inches (210 cm) high. It comprises twisting loops of concrete, painted white, supported by a metal armature. It was exhibited at the Festival of Britain near the Thameside Restaurant, on a motorised plinth that slowly rotated once each two minutes. Hepworth returned to a similar theme with a similarly-named drawing in 1957, held by Kettle's Yard in Cambridge.

The sculpture was acquired by Hertfordshire County Council: at the time, the Council had embarked on an ambitious programme to build new schools, and acquired artworks to decorate them: for example, a cast of Henry Moore’s Family Group is on display at The Barclay School in Stevenage. Hepworth's sculpture has been sited at Marlborough Science Academy in St Albans since its opening in 1953.

References

• Turning Forms, barbarahepworth.org.uk
• Turning Forms, barbarahepworth.org.uk
• Hepworth Statue, Marlborough Academy
• Turning Form, 1957, Kettle’s Yard, Cambridge