Hepworth, Barbara

The works of Barbara Hepworth, who completed her studies together with Henry Moore, are among the first abstract sculptures in England. Today, alongside Moore, the artist is considered the most important representative of modernism and a link between the European abstract movement and England.

Barbara Hepworth felt a close connection with nature throughout her life. The cliffs, the sea and the waves of Cornwall, where she spent a large part of her life, were increasingly reflected in her sculptures, which took over more and more organic forms and flowing lines.

In 1931, in her sculpture “Pierced Form”, she was the first to use the “hole”, a stylistic element which she developed and refined over the years and which ultimately became the trademark of her work. Her best-known commissioned work is the 21 feet high bronze work “Single Form” in front of the United Nations in New York.