Pop-up Exhibits Celebrating 50 Years Of Barbara Hepworth’s Iconic Sculpture, Winged Figure

This year John Lewis’s flagship branch is delighted to be celebrating 50 years since the installation of ‘Winged Figure’ by acclaimed British sculptor Barbara Hepworth, in partnership with The Hepworth Wakefield the award-winning Yorkshire gallery which celebrates her work.

In 1961 John Lewis commissioned the Yorkshire-born artist to create a work that evoked common interest and ownership. Over the past 50 years the artwork has become part of the Oxford Street landscape, since it was unveiled to the public in 1963. Placed 13 feet above the busy cross-section between Holles Street and Oxford Street, it is estimated that the sculpture is seen by 200 million people a year.

To commemorate the 50th anniversary of Winged Figure, the branch has undertaken a programme of activities throughout 2013. This began with a recently completed restoration project, which has helped to return the sculpture to its former glory, and continues with in-store celebrations to be enjoyed by customers and art-lovers alike.

From Tuesday 3 September, the original Winged Figure I, 1957 by Barbara Hepworth will be on display for eight weeks in the Brasserie on the 3rd floor. This is the smaller version of the sculpture that Hepworth proposed to enlarge for the John Lewis commission. Kindly on loan to John Lewis by The Hepworth Wakefield, it offers customers the chance to see Hepworth’s iconic design close-up.

A unique window display on Oxford Street will showcase archive material that will be on display to the public for the first time. The archive material illuminates the story behind the John Lewis commission of Hepworth’s Winged Figure, from the challenges faced in transporting the six metre high sculpture through the cobbled streets of St Ives on its journey to London’s Oxford Street, to reproductions of old photographs and letters written by Hepworth and John Lewis describing the commission.

A pop-up exhibition of three original graphic prints by Barbara Hepworth will also be on display in the flagship’s third floor Brasserie. These original graphic prints are kindly on loan exclusively to John Lewis Oxford Street from The Hepworth Wakefield, the prints are part of a new display Hepworth: Graphic Prints that is on show until early 2014.