Dame Barbara Hepworth sculpture auctioned for almost half a million pounds

Barbare Hepworth’s Three Curves With Strings (Christie’s/PA)

A golden sculpture entitled Three Curves With Strings (Gold Mincarlo) by artist Dame Barbara Hepworth has been auctioned for almost half a million pounds.

The art piece, a golden shape that sits atop a black polished plinth, comes from the Wakefield-born sculptor behind stone carving Mother And Child.

The piece led the sale and achieved £478,800 plus buyer’s premium against an estimate of £80,000 to £120,000.

Other highlights included Bryan Wynter’s Flowering Monolith, which sold for £207,900, exceeding its estimate of £50,000 to £80,000, and Tom Wesselmann’s Wildflower Bouquet, which achieved a total of £119,700.

Christie’s Modern British and Irish Art sale — Sculpture With Colour (Oval Form) Pale Blue And Red, carved in 1943, sold for £3,549,000 (James Manning/PA)

Another art piece auctioned for above its estimation was Augustus John’s Head Of James Joyce, which depicted the Irish literary figure on paper using red chalk.

It was auctioned for £52,920 and had been estimated to sell for between £12,000 and £18,000.

Ronald Moody’s sculpture, Crouched Male Figure, which was carved in the early 1950s, sold for more than four times its highest estimation and achieved £40,320.

Meanwhile, Peter Lanyon’s bright green art piece, Small Landscape No 7, achieved £47,880, which was more than five times its highest estimate.

White Pear from British artist Euan Uglow also featured in the Modern British And Art Day Sale.

It was estimated to fetch between £20,000 and £30,000 and sold for £81,900.

Elsewhere an oil on panel by LS Lowry, called Street Scene, sold for £239,400.

Earlier in the week the auction in London saw one of the artist’s painting, entitled Sunday Afternoon, which had not been publicly exhibited for 57 years, fetch £6.3 million.

Alongside this, an oval-shaped sculpture by Dame Barbara, carved in 1943, called Sculpture With Colour (Oval Form) exceeded its price estimate of between £2.2 million and £3.2 million when it was sold for £3,549,000.

Other works by the artist also went under the hammer, including the brass 1957 sculpture Maquette For Winged Figure, which sold for £277,200.