Preparation

This drawing was produced by Modernist artist and sculptor Barbara Hepworth (1903-1975) in 1947. Against a blue oil wash, a surgeon is drawn in black and white pencil. Depicted as a weighty and monumental figure, rendered anonymous by the medical mask, the surgeon contemplates the impending operation, his hands meeting as he mentally prepares them for action. Highlighted by the white pencil, his hands are the main focus of the drawing, inspired by Hepworth’s interest in the rhythmic movement of hands during medical procedures. They could also be interpreted as being together in prayer, perhaps to infer the life or death situation of this surgeon’s work.

After her daughter Sarah was hospitalised in 1944, Hepworth struck up a close friendship with the surgeon Norman Capener. At his invitation, she was invited to view surgical procedures at the Princess Elizabeth Hospital in Exeter, which led to her producing nearly 80 drawings of operating rooms between 1947 and 1949. She became fascinated by the similarities in craftsmanship between surgeons and artists. In the clinical environment of the operating theatre Hepworth was limited to a sterilised notebook and pen. Only later, in the studio did she make her larger scale drawings.

Her hospital drawings can also be considered in the context of the newly established NHS in 1948. Such a ground-breaking change was passionately supported by artists like Hepworth, who supported broad left-wing ideals which reimagined the fabric of British society after the Second World War. These beliefs are echoed in the altruism she portrays in her images of doctors and nurses.