From Album:  Wells, John KEYWORDS:   11 Structure in Oval 1947 Oil on canvas Signed, dated, numbered 86/ 7 & inscribed verso 18 x 14 ins 46 x 35.5 cms Exhibited: Waddington Galleries, London, 1960, no. 37 Tate St. Ives, Retrospective,1998, no. 21 illus. Wells first employed the three sided shape that he referred to as his ‘pebble form’ during his war years on the Isles of Scilly; and in this important painting he presents it floating at the centre of the composition against an undefined background. Through his association with Gabo and Hepworth, who both explored the interior of their Sculptures as much as the exterior, and his own questioning scientific mind, Wells presents ‘the pebble’ as semitransparent, revealing it’s internal structure and the forces that define and maintain its contour. This is one of a series of paintings produced at this time exploring the interior space of organic oval forms, suggestive of a search for the regenerative forces of nature found within seeds that paralleled Peter Lanyon’s Generation Series. Matching descriptions: 11 Structure in Oval 1947 Oil on canvas Signed, dated, numbered 86/ 7 & inscribed verso 18 x 14 ins 46 x 35.5 cms Exhibited: Waddington Galleries, London, 1960, no. 37 Tate St. Ives, Retrospective,1998, no. 21 illus. Wells first employed the three sided shape that he referred to as his ‘pebble form’ during his war years on the Isles of Scilly; and in this important painting he presents it floating at the centre of the composition against an undefined background. Through his association with Gabo and Hepworth, who both explored the interior of their Sculptures as much as the exterior, and his own questioning scientific mind, Wells presents ‘the pebble’ as semitransparent, revealing it’s internal structure and the forces that define and maintain its contour. This is one of a series of paintings produced at this time exploring the interior space of organic oval forms, suggestive of a search for the regenerative forces of nature found within seeds that paralleled Peter Lanyon’s Generation Series.
		From Album:  Wells, John Matching descriptions: 17 Village 1948 Oil & pencil on canvas laid on board Signed, dated, numbered 87/ 17, studio stamped & inscribed verso 11 x 15 1/4 ins 27.5 x 38.5 cms Wells worked as an assistant to Barbara Hepworth from 1949-51, notably on her series of monumental figurative Sculptures of the period including Cosdon Head, 1949 in the Birmingham City Art Gallery Collection These works combined Hepworth’s interest in pure abstraction with her figure drawings of the preceding few years. Many of her works involved two figures presented together, either the same figure for different viewpoints or entwined in some way. Wells at this time developed an interest in incorporating heads and figures within landscape forms as symbolic of man’s interaction with nature. This rare linear study is also related to a series of etchings made at this time.
		From Album:  Wells, John Matching descriptions: 18 Figures 1950 Pen, ink & watercolour on paper Studio stamp & figure drawing verso 7 x 7 ins 18 x 18 cms Wells worked as an assistant to Barbara Hepworth from 1949-51, notably on her series of monumental figurative Sculptures of the period including Cosdon Head, 1949 in the Birmingham City Art Gallery Collection These works combined Hepworth’s interest in pure abstraction with her figure drawings of the preceding few years. Many of her works involved two figures presented together, either the same figure for different viewpoints or entwined in some way. Wells at this time developed an interest in incorporating heads and figures within landscape forms as symbolic of man’s interaction with nature. This rare linear study is also related to a series of etchings made at this time.
		From Album:  Hepworth, Dame Barbara 1903-1975 Dame Barbara Hepworth 1903-1975 KEYWORDS:   sold Dame Barbara Hepworth 1903-1975 Small Form (Head ) April 1962 Alabaster Height: 10 1/2 inches (inc. base) Provenance: Bernard and Janet Leach Exhibited: Whitechapel Art Gallery, Barbara Hepworth Retrospective 1952 - 1962, 1962, no. 74; Tate Gallery, Barbara Hepworth Retrospective 1927 - 1967, 1968, no. 125 Literature: A. Bowness, The Complete Sculpture of Barbara Hepworth, Lund Humphries, 1971, p. 33, no. 317 Matching descriptions: Small Form (Head ) April 1962 Alabaster Height: 10 1/2 inches (inc. base) Provenance: Bernard and Janet Leach Exhibited: Whitechapel Art Gallery, Barbara Hepworth Retrospective 1952 - 1962, 1962, no. 74; Tate Gallery, Barbara Hepworth Retrospective 1927 - 1967, 1968, no. 125 Literature: A. Bowness, The Complete Sculpture of Barbara Hepworth, Lund Humphries, 1971, p. 33, no. 317

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