Figure (Nyanga)
- Artist: Dame Barbara Hepworth
- Date: 1959–60
- Medium: Elm on plywood base
- Dimensions: object (including base): 908 x 571 x 535 mm (34.6kg)
- Museum: Tate Modern
- Collection record: Tate Modern website
Listen to the free audio guide
About this artwork
This is the “Figure (Nyanga)” by Dame Barbara Hepworth, created between 1959 and 1960. The piece is a carved elm sculpture mounted on a black lacquered plywood base, weighing about 34 kilograms. Hepworth said she was thinking about Africa and the United Nations while she worked, especially after the 1960 Sharpeville Massacre, where police fired on peaceful demonstrators. That event, and the broader theme of human suffering, shaped this work.
The sculpture looks like a heroic human head, large and proportioned, standing as a universal symbol of grief. Hepworth’s choice of elm, a wood prized for its grain and warm honey hue, gives the head a striking texture that catches the light from different angles. The base, a shallow box secured with a steel bolt, keeps the piece stable, reflecting her meticulous attention to detail.
Overall, “Figure (Nyanga)” is a powerful reminder of the artist’s engagement with global justice and the enduring need for compassion.
See it in person
Figure (Nyanga) is in the collection of Tate Modern on Bankside, London — free to enter. Point your phone at any artwork there and audioguide.london plays a free audio guide in six languages — no app download needed.
