Christie’s is set to auction a mid-career sculpture by Barbara Hepworth, Sculpture with Colour (Eos), estimated to fetch between £5 million and £8 million. Created in 1946, this 2-foot-tall sculpture, carved from Hopton Wood stone, features three hollowed-out areas painted in pale gray, off-white, and deep blue, evoking the ocean, sky, and cosmos.

In 1948, the sculpture was immortalized in a black-and-white photograph by Lee Miller, taken at Hepworth’s studio in Cornwall. Miller, a close friend of the artist, visited Hepworth after the family had moved there in 1939, just before World War II. The photograph, which shows Hepworth seated with her arms and legs crossed, also features a tea set in the foreground and a cat curled up on a couch, with Sculpture with Colour (Eos) resting on a table to the right.

The piece has held a central place in Hepworth’s legacy, having been included in her first postwar solo gallery show in 1946 and in the exhibition “Hepworth in Colour” at the Courtauld in London this summer. The sculpture was purchased at Christie’s in 2016 by the estate of American philanthropists David and Geraldine Pincus for $5.4 million, and was originally acquired from the Martha Jackson Gallery in 1962.

Alice Murray, head of modern British and Irish art at Christie’s London, notes the significance of this piece in Hepworth’s career and its enduring appeal. With its rich history and compelling artistic vision, the sculpture is poised to make a significant impact at the auction.