Arts and Music Atlas

Works, Makers, Traditions
Sign In
Text size
100%
Theme
Artist

Barbara Hepworth

Sculptors

Barbara Hepworth was a British sculptor and a leading figure of twentieth-century abstract sculpture, known for smoothly finished carved wood and stone forms, frequently pierced by open holes that made negative space an active element of the composition. Working in St Ives, Cornwall, alongside her contemporary Henry Moore, whom she had trained alongside at the Royal College of Art, Hepworth developed a distinct abstract vocabulary influenced by the coastal landscape around her, later working also in bronze for larger public commissions such as Single Form outside the United Nations headquarters in New York. She was one of the few women to achieve major international recognition in modern abstract sculpture during her lifetime, and her direct-carving technique and pierced forms significantly shaped the development of postwar British sculpture.

Facts
Birth Year
1903 1
Death Year
1975 1
Nationality
English 1
Birth Date
1903-01-10 1
Death Date
1975-05-20 1
Birthplace
Wakefield, West Riding of Yorkshire 1
Death Place
Trewyn studios 1
Classification
Gender
Female 1
Connections

Associated With

Direct Carving, Artistic Techniques

Hepworth was a major direct carving sculptor working straight into stone and wood.

Works Created

In the Other Atlases
Sources
1. Barbara Hepworth - Wikipedia
  • Lead paragraph, opening sentence: birth year
    Dame Jocelyn Barbara Hepworth (10 January 1903
  • Lead paragraph, opening sentence: death year
    20 May 1975) was an English sculptor
  • Lead paragraph, opening sentence: nationality
    was an English sculptor
  • Body, birth sentence: birth date
    Jocelyn Barbara Hepworth was born on 10 January 1903 in Wakefield, West Riding of Yorkshire, the eldest child of Gertrude and Herbert Hepworth.
  • Body, death sentence: death date
    Barbara Hepworth died in an accidental fire at her Trewyn studios on 20 May 1975 at the age of 72.
  • Body, birth sentence: birthplace
    Jocelyn Barbara Hepworth was born on 10 January 1903 in Wakefield, West Riding of Yorkshire, the eldest child of Gertrude and Herbert Hepworth.
  • Body, death sentence: death place
    Barbara Hepworth died in an accidental fire at her Trewyn studios on 20 May 1975 at the age of 72.
  • Gender reference
    Working in St Ives, Cornwall, alongside her contemporary Henry Moore, whom she had trained alongside at the Royal College of Art, Hepworth developed a distinct abstract vocabulary influenced by the coastal landscape around her, later working also in bronze for larger public commissions such as Single Form outside the United Nations headquarters in New York.
View the Source
Comments (0)
No comments yet. Be the first to share a thought.
Reader Challenges (0)
No disputes yet. Spotted an error or a better source? Open the first one.