The Hepworth Wakefield has recently produced this large Gouttelette print, reproduced from an original work in 1952 by Barbara Hepworth in an exclusive partnership with Art Republic.

Often referred to as a drawing Two Figures by the Sea may be described more accurately as a painting. During World War II, two dimensional work was a necessary creative outlet for Hepworth and it continued to prove fundamental to her artistic output, important both in itself and as working process for her sculpture. The production of paintings enabled Hepworth's friends and clients to purchase work without the expense of acquiring a sculpture. As with the wartime pictures, a number of the figure drawings were sold to members of her immediate social circle.

Hepworth used her drawings as processes to work on ideas which would eventually translate into sculpture, achieving an abstract sense of space, form and texture through the use of transparent smooth layers and bold mark-making.

Materials: Gouttelette print on acid-free calcium carbonate buffered archival watercolour paper. Framed in solid oak.

These prints are printed using Rosenstiel's registered Gouttelette process. The Gouttelette process is based on digital technology, but has some quirks which are exclusive to Rosenstiel's and leads to an extraordinary quality.