In a move that further cements Phillips’s aim to move into 20th-century art, the auction house is holding an exhibition of late and experimental works by Barbara Hepworth in London in July 2016.
Organised by Andrew Bonacina, the chief curator at the Hepworth Wakefield in Yorkshire, the show focuses on the last ten years of the British sculptor’s career from 1968 onwards. The exhibition, which is part of Hepworth Wakefield’s fifth anniversary celebrations next year, “will serve to show the strength and importance of our collection to a wider audience”, says Simon Wallis, the director of the gallery.
It is also a “natural continuation” of the Hepworth show currently on view at Tate Britain, says Peter Sumner, the head of contemporary art at Phillips, London. Further blurring the boundary between museum, gallery and auction house, Phillips is borrowing the works from the Hepworth Wakefield and several private collections. None will be for sale.
This is the first time Phillips has held a completely non-selling show. Last October, an exhibition of large-scale contemporary sculpture organised by the Italian curator Francesco Bonami launched the auction house’s Berkeley Square European headquarters. One of the works was offered in the October evening sale.
