Barbara Hepworth, an English artist and sculptor, was one of the most influential women artists of the twentieth century. Known for her early abstract sculptures, she developed a fascination with natural forms and textures from a young age. After receiving training in sculpture, she traveled to Italy to learn the art of carving marble. Upon returning to London, she became a leading figure in the ‘new movement’ and held successful joint exhibitions. Over time, her artistic talent matured, leading her to experiment with new wood carvings incorporating string and metal. Her work gained recognition and she began receiving public commissions. Hepworth’s enduring legacy includes serving as a mentor to other artists and writers, and her landscapes and linear abstract works are renowned for their clarity and vision.
Quick Facts
- British Celebrities Born In January
- Also Known As: Jocelyn Barbara Hepworth
- Died At Age: 72
- Sculptors
- British Women
- Died on: May 20, 1975
- Place of death: St Ives, Cornwall, England, United Kingdom
- Notable Alumni: Leeds School Of Art, Royal College Of Art
- Cause of Death: Accidental Fire
- More Facts
- Education: Royal College Of Art, Leeds School Of Art
- Awards: Order of the British Empire
Childhood & Early Life
Jocelyn Barbara Hepworth was born on January 10, 1903, in Wakefield, West Riding of Yorkshire, to Herbert Hepworth, a civil engineer who later became County Surveyor, and his wife, Gertrude. She was the eldest of four children in her family. She received her early education from the Wakefield Girls’ High School, and later earned a scholarship to the Leeds School of Art.
Career
In 1924, after completing her studies at the RCA, Hepworth travelled to Florence, Italy on a West Riding Travel Scholarship. In Italy, she learned how to carve marble from the master sculptor, Giovanni Ardini. In 1926, she returned to London with her husband, where both of them exhibited their works together from their flat.
In 1933, she became one of the founders of the Unit One art movement; the other founders of the movement were artists, Paul Nash and Ben Nicholson. The movement sought to unite surrealism and abstraction in British art. In 1935, she produced ‘Three Forms’, an abstract sculpture consisting of a sphere and two nearly oval shapes, which according to critics symbolized the birth of her triplets. In 1937, she designed the layout for ‘Circle: An International Survey of Constructivist Art’, a 300-page book that surveyed Constructivist artists.
During the Second World War, she moved with her children to Cornwall in southwestern England and later produced works such as ‘Tides’ (1946). In 1949, she and her second husband Nicholson co-founded the Penwith Society of Arts at the Castle Inn along with many other artists including Peter Lanyon and Bernard Leach. In 1950, she began to work with bronze. The following year, she was commissioned by the Arts Council to create a piece for the Festival of Britain. The resulting work featured two Irish limestone figures titled ‘Contrapuntal Forms’ which was displayed on the London’s South Bank. During the 1950s, she presented ‘Groups’, an experimental series which consisted of clusters of small anthropomorphic forms in marble so thin that their translucence creates a magical sense of inner life.
During the 1960s, she received a number of commissions for truly huge sculptures, an example of which is ‘Four-Square Walk Through’ (1966), a gigantic geometrical piece. Later in her career, she also experimented with lithography and produced two lithographic suites. The latter one titled ‘The Aegean Suite’ (1971) was inspired by Hepworth’s trip to Greece in 1954 with Margaret Gardiner.
Major Works
One of her most famous sculpture works is the ‘Single Form’, which is made in the memory of her friend and collector of her works, the former UN Secretary General Dag Hammarskjöld. The sculpture currently stands in the plaza of the United Nations building in New York City.
Awards & Achievements
In 1958, she was appointed the Commander of the Order of the British Empire (CBE). In 1965, she was conferred with the title of Dame Commander of the Order of the British Empire (DBE). In 1968, she was presented with the Freedom of St. Ives award in recognition of her significant contributions to the town. In 1973, she was elected an honorary member of the American Academy of Arts and Letters.
Personal Life & Legacy
In 1925, after travelling together through Siena and Rome, she married John Skeaping, also a sculptor, in Florence. In 1929, they were blessed with a son, Paul, but the couple divorced in 1933. In 1933, she entered into a wedlock with the painter, Ben Nicholson, with whom she had triplets; Rachel, Sarah, and Simon, in 1934. The couple divorced in 1951. Barbara Hepworth died in an accidental fire on May 20, 1975, at the age of 72, at her Trewyn Studios, St. Ives, Cornwall.