Figure (Oread)
(1958)
- Medium
- bronze
- Measurements
- 68.8 × 41.4 × 8.6 cm
- Place/s of Execution
- England
- Edition
- ed 5/7
- Accession Number
- 428-D5
- Department
- International Sculpture
- Credit Line
- National Gallery of Victoria, Melbourne
Felton Bequest, 1962
© Bowness
This digital record has been made available on NGV Collection Online through the generous support of Digitisation Champion Ms Carol Grigor through Metal Manufactures Limited - Gallery location
- Late 19th & early 20th Century Paintings & Decorative Arts Gallery
Level 2, NGV International - About this work
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Nature was a central source of inspiration to the British Surrealists, and a guiding principle among in the progressive 7 & 5 Group, to which Barbara Hepworth belonged during the 1920s. Hepworth’s affinity with nature led her to permanently relocate to the Cornish coast a decade later. Believing in a genius loci, or spirit of place, Hepworth derived many of her sculptural forms from the landscape around her. Oread, named after the mountain nymph, is cast in bronze from plaster, a departure from Hepworth’s earlier preference for carved stone. The sculpture’s soft green patina complements the organic, reaching character of the pierced form.