Barbara Hepworth’s sculpture Single Form was installed outside the United Nations Secretariat in New York in 1964.
The monumental bronze was commissioned as a memorial to Dag Hammarskjöld, the second Secretary-General of the United Nations, who died in a plane crash in 1961. Hepworth had known Hammarskjöld, and the work was created in response to his commitment to international cooperation and peace.
Single Form rises more than 30 feet and has a tall, vertically oriented shape divided by incised lines and openings. Its abstract design does not portray a person or event literally. Instead, its scale and restrained geometry create a symbolic presence in the plaza.
The sculpture belongs to Hepworth’s broader exploration of organic abstraction, balance, space, and the relationship between solid form and emptiness. The United Nations work is distinct from smaller versions and related studies that she produced under similar titles.