This film is part of Free

In My Sculpture Garden

Barbara Hepworth is grappling with forms in her studio garden.

News 1966 1 mins Silent

From the collection of:

Logo for South West Film and Television Archive

Overview

Barbara Hepworth is filmed taking delivery of stone at her Trewyn studio in St Ives. She first visited in 1939 before moving there permanently with the artist Ben Nicholson, their triplets and her son Paul from a previous marriage to sculptor and equine artist John Skeaping. Hepworth was active in the Modernist Movement in Hampstead and was influenced by other European artists such as Naum Gabo, Piet Mondrian and also toured Europe to meet among others, Pablo Picasso.

By the mid-1950s after Nicholson had left her and her son Paul had been killed in an RAF air crash in Malaya, she went on to sculpt wood carvings using a hardwood, guarea from Nigeria and believed them to be among her finest works. By the 1960s she found international recognition from a commission in memory of her friend and sponsor Secretary General of the United Nations Dag Hammarskjold who died in a plane crash in Africa. Single Form is a monumental bronze sculpture displayed since 1964 at United Nations Headquarters in New York City. The Barbara Hepworth Museum and Sculpture Garden in St Ives is run by the Tate and attracts many visitors. All artwork is the copyright of Bowness and shown by kind permission.