Mycenae
Mycenae
Date: 1958
Dimensions:
800 x 670 x 40 mm
Medium: Lithograph
Object number: PT0035
DescriptionDame Jocelyn Barbara Hepworth DBE (10 January 1903 – 20 May 1975) was an English artist and sculptor. Her work exemplifies Modernism and in particular modern sculpture.
After studying at Leeds School of Art in the 1920s having won a scholarship there, Hepworth focussed on sculpture as a medium and studied at the Royal Academy. In the 1920s and 1930s she established her work but also combined this with marriage and motherhood. She was firm in her belief that family life should not hold women back from their work, in this case art, and that they could successfully do both.
She became a leading figure in the colony of artists who resided in St Ives in Cornwall during the Second World War. As well as enjoying the air and freedom, the place gave her time to work on other materials, bronze and clay as well as stone.
In the 1950s the Curwen Studio, an offshoot of the Curwen Press, which had been in operation in Plaistow since 1863, wanted to work with established artists to produce limited edition fine art prints. Although sculpture was Hepworth’s first love, she enjoyed the print work and liked the fact that the medium made it possible for people to buy art they might not otherwise be able to afford. The Mycenae print may have been a study for a sculptural work, originally and she later went on to produce more lithographs in the 1960s and 1970s. Hepworth produced a number of prints with the same title from the mid 1950s to the late 1960s after visiting Greece in 1954.
Her work and life is renowned and she became a prominent and well loved artist, as well as being recognised with many honours, including Dame of the British Empire in 1965. Sadly she met her death in an accidental fire at her studios in Trewyn in 1975 aged 72.
After studying at Leeds School of Art in the 1920s having won a scholarship there, Hepworth focussed on sculpture as a medium and studied at the Royal Academy. In the 1920s and 1930s she established her work but also combined this with marriage and motherhood. She was firm in her belief that family life should not hold women back from their work, in this case art, and that they could successfully do both.
She became a leading figure in the colony of artists who resided in St Ives in Cornwall during the Second World War. As well as enjoying the air and freedom, the place gave her time to work on other materials, bronze and clay as well as stone.
In the 1950s the Curwen Studio, an offshoot of the Curwen Press, which had been in operation in Plaistow since 1863, wanted to work with established artists to produce limited edition fine art prints. Although sculpture was Hepworth’s first love, she enjoyed the print work and liked the fact that the medium made it possible for people to buy art they might not otherwise be able to afford. The Mycenae print may have been a study for a sculptural work, originally and she later went on to produce more lithographs in the 1960s and 1970s. Hepworth produced a number of prints with the same title from the mid 1950s to the late 1960s after visiting Greece in 1954.
Her work and life is renowned and she became a prominent and well loved artist, as well as being recognised with many honours, including Dame of the British Empire in 1965. Sadly she met her death in an accidental fire at her studios in Trewyn in 1975 aged 72.
In Theme(s)
Culture: Female