Barbara Hepworth facts for kids

Quick facts for kids Dame Barbara Hepworth DBE
Hepworth in 1966
Born	Jocelyn Barbara Hepworth (1903-01-10)10 January 1903 Wakefield, West Riding of Yorkshire, England
Died	20 May 1975(1975-05-20) (aged 72) St Ives, Cornwall, England
Nationality	English
Education	Wakefield Girls' High School Leeds School of Art Royal College of Art
Known for	Sculpture
Movement	Modernism, Abstract art
Spouse(s)	John Skeaping (1923–1931; divorced) Ben Nicholson (1938–1951; divorced)
Awards	DBE

Dame Jocelyn Barbara Hepworth (born January 10, 1903 – died May 20, 1975) was a very important English artist. She was especially known for her sculptures. Her work is a great example of Modernism, which was a new way of creating art. She was a key artist in a group that lived in St Ives during the World Wars. Other famous artists in this group included Ben Nicholson and Naum Gabo.

About Barbara Hepworth's Life

Her Early Years

Barbara Hepworth was born in Wakefield, England, on January 10, 1903. She was the oldest child of Gertrude and Herbert Hepworth. Her father was an engineer for the local council.

Barbara went to Wakefield Girls' High School. She was very talented and won music prizes when she was only 12. Later, she won a scholarship to study art at the Leeds School of Art in 1920. There, she met another famous artist, Henry Moore. They became good friends and even had a friendly competition in their art for many years.

It was hard for women to get into art schools back then. But Barbara was determined. She won another scholarship to the Royal College of Art (RCA) in London. She studied there from 1921 to 1924.

Starting Her Career

Barbara Hepworth, Pierced Form, 1932. This was a new style of sculpture.

After finishing her studies, Barbara traveled to Florence, Italy, in 1924. She went on a special scholarship. In Italy, she learned how to carve marble from a sculptor named Giovanni Ardini.

Barbara married sculptor John Skeaping in Florence in 1925. They returned to London in 1926 and showed their art together. Their son, Paul, was born in London in 1929.

Barbara was very interested in new art ideas from other countries. In 1931, she created sculptures with holes or "pierced forms." This became a special part of her own art style. It also influenced other modern sculptors like Henry Moore.

In 1933, Barbara traveled to France with artist Ben Nicholson. They visited the studios of famous artists like Pablo Picasso. Barbara later joined art groups like Abstraction-Création and co-founded Unit One. These groups wanted to bring new art styles like Surrealism and abstract art to Britain.

Barbara also helped people in Britain learn about new artists from other countries. In 1937, she helped design a big book called Circle: An International Survey of Constructivist Art. This book showed the work of many modern artists.

Barbara and Ben Nicholson had triplets in 1934: Rachel, Sarah, and Simon. Barbara found a way to be a mother and continue her art. She believed that having a family could actually help an artist. She said that even a little bit of work each day could help ideas grow. Barbara married Ben Nicholson in 1938. Two of her children, Rachel and Simon, also became artists.

Life in St Ives

When World War II started in 1939, Barbara, Ben, and their children moved to Cornwall. Barbara lived in Trewyn Studios in St Ives from 1949 until she passed away in 1975. She loved the studio because it had a yard and garden where she could work outdoors. St Ives became a safe place for many artists during the war. In 1949, Barbara and Ben helped start the Penwith Society of Arts.

Barbara was also a talented artist with drawings. After her daughter Sarah was in the hospital in 1944, Barbara became friends with a surgeon. She was invited to watch surgeries. Between 1947 and 1949, she made almost 80 drawings of operating rooms. She saw a connection between surgeons and artists, saying they both had similar ways of working.

In 1950, Barbara's art was shown at a big art event called the Venice Biennale in Italy. Her sculptures Contrapunctal Forms and Turning Forms were also shown at the Festival of Britain in 1951.

Barbara and Ben Nicholson divorced in 1951. After this, Barbara started working with new materials like bronze and clay, not just stone or wood. She often used her garden in St Ives to display her large bronze sculptures.

A Sad Loss

In 1953, Barbara's oldest son, Paul, died in a plane crash while serving in the Royal Air Force. This was a very sad time for her. She created a sculpture called Madonna and Child in his memory. It is in the church in St Ives.

After Paul's death, Barbara was very tired. She traveled to Greece with her friend Margaret Gardiner in 1954. They visited many beautiful places, which later inspired some of her sculptures. When she returned, she received a huge shipment of wood from Nigeria. She used this wood to create six large sculptures between 1954 and 1956. Many of these were inspired by her trip to Greece.

Later Career and Fame

In the 1950s, Barbara wanted to show her art more in the United States. She worked with different art galleries to make this happen. She became very well-known around the world.

In 1960, Barbara bought a large building called the Palais de Danse, which used to be a cinema. This gave her more space to create very large sculptures for special projects.

She also started making prints called lithography later in her career. She created two sets of lithographs, one in 1969 and another in 1971. The 1971 set, called "The Aegean Suite," was inspired by her trip to Greece.

Barbara Hepworth died in an accidental fire at her studio in St Ives on May 20, 1975. She was 72 years old.

Where to See Her Art

There are two museums named after Barbara Hepworth that have many of her artworks:

• The Barbara Hepworth Museum in St Ives, Cornwall.
• The Hepworth Wakefield in West Yorkshire, her hometown.

You can also see her sculptures in many other places, including:

• Birmingham Museum and Art Gallery, UK
• The University of Liverpool
• The University of Birmingham
• Yorkshire Sculpture Park
• Clare College, Cambridge
• Churchill College, Cambridge
• On the outside of the John Lewis department store on Oxford Street, London
• Leeds Art Gallery
• Tate Gallery, London
• Kröller-Müller Museum, Netherlands
• Museum of New Zealand Te Papa Tongarewa in Wellington, New Zealand
• Art Institute of Chicago, USA

Famous Sculptures

In 1951, Barbara was asked to create a sculpture for the Festival of Britain. She made two large figures from Irish limestone called "Contrapuntal Forms." These were shown in London and later moved to Harlow. To make such big pieces, Barbara hired her first assistants. She worked with 16 assistants throughout her career.

One of her most famous works is Single Form. This sculpture is in the plaza of the United Nations building in New York City. It was made in memory of her friend Dag Hammarskjöld, who was the leader of the U.N. and died in a plane crash.

In 2011, one of her sculptures called Two Forms was stolen from a park in London. It was worth a lot of money, and people thought it was stolen for its metal.

Another sculpture, Rock Form (Porthcurno) from 1964, was removed from a shopping center in Wolverhampton in 2014. People in the city were upset because they felt the sculpture belonged to them. It has since been loaned back to the city and can be seen in the Wolverhampton City Art Gallery.

Awards and Recognition

Barbara Hepworth received many awards for her art.

• She won the Grand Prix at the São Paulo Art Biennial in 1959.
• In 1968, she was given the Freedom of St Ives, which was a special honor from the town.
• She also received honorary degrees from many universities, including Birmingham, Leeds, and Oxford.
• She was made a Commander of the Order of the British Empire (CBE) in 1958 and a Dame Commander (DBE) in 1965. This is why she is called "Dame Barbara Hepworth."

After she passed away, her studio and home in St Ives became the Barbara Hepworth Museum. It is now managed by the Tate art galleries. In 2011, The Hepworth Wakefield museum opened in her hometown.

In 2015, Tate Britain held a major exhibition of her work in London. It showed more than 70 of her sculptures and some never-before-seen photographs. In 2020, Google honored her with a special Google Doodle. A Historic England blue plaque was also put up at her former home in London.

Images for kids

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  Three Obliques (Walk In), 1968, at Cardiff University School of Music

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  Curved Reclining Form (Rosewall), 1960–62, Chesterfield, Derbyshire

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  Summer Dance, 1972, at the Harrison Sculpture Garden, Minnesota Landscape Arboretum

See also

In Spanish: Barbara Hepworth para niños