Group of Three Magic Stones, 1973

Group of Three Magic Stones is characteristic of Barbara Hepworth’s interest in compositions based on the repetition of a single form arranged on a rectangular wooden base. Another example at Kettle’s Yard is Three Personages, in the extension. Here the three elements are identical, even though they appear different by being set on different facets, hence their ‘magic’. While the number three carries many symbolic and spiritual meanings, for Hepworth it held particular personal significance, having had triplets with the artist Ben Nicholson in 1934.