Proof for ‘Landscape Sculpture’, Ascher scarf design, 1947 (screenprint on silk)

In 1946, Ascher (London) Ltd commissioned leading British and European artists, including Barbara Hepworth and Henry Moore, to make scarf designs, or ‘artist squares’. Hepworth understood the power of the mass-distributed textiles to introduce her work to new audiences. She was also keenly aware that a scarf is a two-dimensional work, which when worn is transformed into a three-dimensional object, and she structured her composition with this in mind. Her work has one symmetrical plane, which gives it structure, yet it is textured throughout with an irregular scratching pattern that assures a different impression when viewed from various angles.