Image credit: Wikipedia - Barbara Hepworth, 1966, Erling Mandelmann
barbara hepworth
Arts, Sculpture
1903–1975
Suggested by Rowan McManus & Fleur Winter
Rowan writes,
“Barbara Hepworth lived and worked in St Ives during WW2 and was renowned for her abstract art and sculptures. In 1933, she was a founding member of Unit One, an art movement which embraced both surrealism and abstraction the two important art movements of the time. Hepworth was leading the way for women sculptors. She has been an inspiration to me in my ceramics when I was in school, studying art as part of my teaching course, and in my teaching career. “
Fleur writes,
“Hepworth was a pioneer of sculpture and form. I think her work is brilliant. She surpassed herself in what she achieved in her work, in scale and in her success in a male dominated modern art world. She has always been an inspiration to me and my work as an artist. Her work resonates with me. I make forms and that’s all I have ever wanted to do. Her influence on my subconscious artistic mind is uncanny. Her work and what she achieved as an artist gives me confidence to continue, to know there is a place for it.”
From Wikipedia:
Dame Barbara Hepworth was an English artist and sculptor. Her work exemplifies Modernism and in particular modern sculpture. Born in Yorkshire, Hepworth studied at Leeds and the Royal College of Art in the 1920s. In the 1930’s she was part of a circle of modern artists centred on Hampstead, London, and was a founder of the art movement Unit One. Along with artists such as Ben Nicholson and Naum Gabo, Hepworth was a leading figure in the colony of artists living in St Ives during WW2. She married twice, the second time to the painter Ben Nicholson and at the beginning of the war Hepworth and Nicholson moved to St Ives where she would remain for the rest of her life. Best known as a sculptor, Hepworth also produced drawings and lithographs. She died in a fire at her studio in 1975.