Barbara Hepworth

Barbara Hepworth was an English artist and sculptor whose work epitomized Modernism, particularly in the realm of modern sculpture. 

Biography of Barbara Hepworth

Barbara Hepworth was born in 1903 in Wakefield, Yorkshire. She received her education at Wakefield Girls’ High School before attending Leeds School of Art, where she crossed paths with the sculptor Henry Moore. Having completed the two-year course in just one year, she then enrolled at The Royal College of Art, London, in 1921.

After a post-graduate year there, Hepworth found herself short-listed for the Prix de Rome and was granted a year-long travel scholarship. She relocated to Florence in 1924, where she tied the knot with John Skeaping, in 1925.

Returning to London in 1926, Hepworth and Skeaping exhibited their works together. However, their marriage faced challenges, and Hepworth's artistic path took a turn when she met Ben Nicholson in 1931. The couple divorced in 1933.

In 1932, Nicholson relocated to Hepworth’s studio. Hepworth began making entirely abstract sculptures from 1934 onwards. That same year, she gave birth to triplets: Simon, Rachel, and Sarah. Nicholson and Hepworth tied the knot in 1938, and they moved to Cornwall a year later.

Hepworth's post-war reputation soared with retrospectives in Wakefield (1951) and London's Whitechapel Art Gallery (1954). She represented British sculpture at the 1950 Venice Biennale and received commissions for the 1951 Festival of Britain. International acclaim followed with public commissions like "Single Form" outside the United Nations Building in New York (1964) and the Grand Prix at the 1959 São Paulo Biennial.

Hepworth passed away in 1975 due to a fire in her studio. Following her wishes, the Trewyn studio was opened to the public as the Barbara Hepworth Museum in 1976, and it is now incorporated into the Tate Gallery.