Last night the major Hepworth scuplture in Dulwich Park, Two Forms (Divided Circle) was ripped from its plinth - a major job - leaving just these stumps. Apparently the thieves broke the padlock on Queen Mary Gate off the South Circular.
Divided Circle by Barbara Hepworth
The sculpture has stood in the park for over 40 years and was a local landmark. The theft of the two-metre high sculpture must have taken a big effort, but the chances are that it is now on its way to a black market metal dealer, to be melted down and never seen again.
The sculpture was insured for £500k, but the price it could collect as scrap metal would only be a fraction of its value.
Trevor Moore, chairman of Dulwich Park Friends, said it was a terrible blow. “It has always been there as long as I’ve been in Dulwich,” he said. “It’s just one of those things which is always there as you wander past and you feel like you’ve had a finger chopped off, in all honesty.”
You’d think great works of art in public spaces would have a civilising influence, but these days everything is reduced to the values of the market place. It was only last month when a statue of Southwark hero Dr Salter was taken from its river-front location in Bermondsey, also in Southwark.
Barbara Hepworth (1903-75) was one of Britain’s most important 20th Century artists and probably the most famous female sculptor; her work is displayed in museums and public spaces around the world.
Southwark Council have offered a £1,000 reward for information leading to arrests. For further information please click here.
16 Comments
How very very sad.
How terribly sad, I Love (d) this sculpture. This makes me feel really shocked that criminals are prepared to go to such lengths for their petty gains. I think the government needs to do something urgently to control scrap metal dealers …cut off the demand and the crime will go down…This is bad enough but I heard the figures the other day for how many hours have been lost due to train cabling being nicked and it was MASSIVE. What a sorry mess.
No! That’s terrible news. It’s my favourite thing in the park.
All of us, as a community, are shocked and bereft at the news of this audacious theft. It was truly shocking to see it on the BBC News at 10 last night. What sort of low life could steal an iconic sculpture of the twentieth century? Did no one here the noise of the metal cutters??
What a shame! I always thought of this sculpture as the “eyes and ears” of the park.
It is of course a tradegy and even though it is insured it is not as though one can pop out and buy a replacement. So the question remains “What will Southwark do with the £0.5m insurance payout?”. I would like to suggest that they run a competition for UK based artists to select a design then commision a replacement. I sort of imagine that is what Hepworth would want.
First class solution for an extremely tragic loss!
It was shocking on our weekly walk in the park to see the site so sadly mutilated by the theft of tis iconic statue. I gather that another local statue has also been stolen from Bermondsey.
This was and is a totally obscene and abhorrent act of extremely selfish and narrow minded vandalism. I think not, they probably want it (god forbid) for the scrap metal alone how terrible is that, for such a prestigious and unique Artist where Art especially on public display is meant to be a constant source of uplifting enjoyment and inspiration for all.
It is extremely sad to think that certain members of society feel the need to stoop so low as to deprive the local community of a statue of a celebrity they’ve probably known personally and loved the statue being in the Park for a very long time, but it’s also the cost which enabled it to be there, very great cost to Council and Community, but it’s all for virtually nothing when it comes to scrap value, revenge in a way as they’ve not got market value for their swag. How many more statues will disappear, we’ll have to use some other material in future, or use smartwater or microchip. Yes, a very sad reflection on a certain section of society.
Stephanie Lodge
Camberwell SE5.
:(
I live right next to the park, on Dulwich Common and I have seen the statue lots of times. In fact when I was younger, about 5 years old, me and my brother would climb into the holes in the center of the two forms and lie down in them like they were a metal hammock! I just saw the photo of us.
I thought of the statue as the ‘eyes’ and ‘ears’ of the park in a way.
I am 11 years now
Kerem, this must be very sad for you too. If you could scan the photo of you and your brother lying in the holes of the statue and email it to us, we would publish it if you like. [email protected]
Ingrid (editor)
Hi Kerem,
Glad to hear you enjoyed the sculpture so much. In the next couple of weeks a TV programme is being made that will include a section about the theft of the Hepworth and what it meant to local people. So, as Ingrid says, if you could upload your picture, maybe they will show it in the TV programme, which would be a nice thing.
Trevor Moore, Chair of Dulwich Park Friends
Our whole family is very sad as a family at the loss of this wonderful part of our Dulwich Park. We have many pictures with our grandchildren gracing the statue and we can’t believe it will never be there again. We have signed up at the epetion 406 of course.
How will the insurance ££ be used?
I am collecting and collating images of the Hepworth in the park for a memorial event on 20 May. Have you got photos you can download and send as jpgs. I would be delighted to see them and perhaps pick one out.
Kate Miller, poet working with the Friends of Dulwich Park on ‘Undivided Circle’ (working title).
I did a small watercolour of the statue, which was purchased by the cafe, and is on display in the cafe.
I do have a copy on file, which I could send you as an e-mail attachment.