Contrapuntal Forms Sculpture

This list entry was subject to a Minor Enhancement on 15 June 2021 to amend the description and to reformat the text to current standards

TL 41 SE 973/2/10009

HARLOW GLEBELANDS (East side) Contrapuntal Forms Sculpture

II

Two semi-abstract figures. Sculpted 1950-1951 by Barbara Hepworth for the Festival of Britain's South Bank exhibition, resited here in 1953. Blue limestone, over 7' in height. Described as a 'monumental group of abstract sculpture symbolising the spirit of discovery' its theme related to its original setting outside the Dome of Discovery, though the figures are equally appropriate to their present suburban setting. It was the first work acquired (though not the first commissioned) by the Harlow Arts Trust, the dynamic independent committee founded in 1953 which has brought an exceptional collection of public art to Harlow. No other New Town has a comparable collection. This is a distinguished example of Hepworth's work from an important period in her development.

The Festival of Britain (May-September 1951) was a nationwide celebration of United Kingdom arts, industry and technology. It marked the centenary of the Great Exhibition and aimed to encourage a sense of national pride and optimism for the country’s post-War recovery. The main Festival site on London’s South Bank, visited by some 8.5 million people, included the Royal Festival Hall (Grade I) and a suite of pavilions, cafés and sculptures and the Festival Gardens in Battersea Park (Grade II*). A ‘Live Architecture’ Exhibition at the Lansbury estate in east London included several buildings, some of which are listed at Grade II. Festival events were organised by communities across the country, whilst Royal Navy vessel Campania was converted into the Festival ‘Sea Travelling Exhibition.’ More than 30 sculptures by some of the most renowned contemporary British artists were displayed at the South Bank site; Hepworth also sculpted ‘Turning Forms’ (Grade II) which was exhibited outside the Festival’s Thameside Restaurant.

Listing NGR: TL4583411049