For over six decades, a bronze sculpture by Barbara Hepworth quietly resided in a headmaster’s office, forgotten and overlooked. Now, it’s set to be auctioned, with proceeds dedicated to art student bursaries, breathing new life into its legacy.
The piece,titled single Form (1962),was rediscovered at Bryanston School in Dorset by an archivist tasked with cataloging the school’s artifacts in planning for its centenary celebrations in 2028. The polished bronze, a work of Hepworth’s artistic genius, had been tucked away, its story lost in time.
Richard Jones, the school’s current headteacher, shared with The Art Newspaper the sculpture’s intriguing journey. Originally donated by Hepworth to a charity auction for Save the Children in 1963, it was purchased by a former Bryanston governor. He later bequeathed it to the school in the late 60s, hoping it would inspire students. Yet, it ended up in the headteacher’s office, unnoticed. Jones recalls: “Over the years, it truly seems people didn’t always know the backstory behind it, or that it even was a Hepworth. We kind of lost track of that, and the Hepworth estate also lost track of it after the auction. It was only when it was recently identified that we realised what we had.”
Barbara Hepworth donated Single Form (1962) to an auction for UK charity Save the Children
Courtesy of Bryanston School
Bryanston, a school with notable artistic alumni like British designer Terence Conan and painters Howard Hodgkin and Lucien Freud, has temporarily displayed the sculpture to fulfill its original purpose—inspiring students. However,it will soon be auctioned at Dukes in April.
This isn’t the first instance of a Hepworth sculpture being sold to fund education. In 2016, two of her works—Forms in Movement (Galliard) (1956) and Quite Form (1973)—were auctioned at Sotheby’s, fetching £2.2m, double their initial estimate. Hepworth, honored as a dame in 1965, had initially sold these pieces at a reduced price to her former school, Wakefield’s Girls High School in Yorkshire.The sale drew criticism from local politicians and former pupils, who lamented the loss of cultural heritage.
Jones admitted uncertainty about the potential value of Single Form, but assured that the decision to sell was carefully considered. He emphasizes: “We have thought long and hard what the most meaningful impact it can have, with the absolute commitment being that every penny raised will be put into art bursaries at Bryanston.”
He also acknowledged the broader challenges facing arts education, noting recent cuts to arts education and the impact of VAT on self-reliant schools, which could reduce bursary opportunities. Jones added: “Whoever is lucky enough to get this piece will also be making a transformational difference to the world of the arts.”
