Barbara Hepworth: Sculpture for a Modern World

Beautiful exhibition at Tate Britain focusing on the life and work of Barbara Hepworth.

This was a beautifully displayed show with the sculptures given lots of space to see them from all sides and displayed against lovely different shades of blue in each room. Farrow and Ball eat your heart out!

I loved the room on the studio she shared with Ben Nicholson which showed how they worked together and how their work became a dialogue which was mirrored in the joint shows they held in this period. I loved the quote “work and living are the same thing” rather Bloomsbury!

The section on international modernism was fascinating as I’d never thought about the influx of refugees from Nazi Europe into the art world and the effect it had in boosting the modernist movement. I loved a photo of Mondrian at a nursery tea!

I particularly like the wooden egg shaped works with the insides painted in white or blue and with threads stretched across them. This exhibition gave me a new understanding of Hepworth. I’m not sure I’ll ever love her but I do now understand what she was trying to do. I like the contrast as well between what seems to be a very feminine character and physical sculptural work.

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