Barbara Hepworth: Art & Life – Hepworth Wakefield

A review of Barbara Hepworth: Art & Life, at The Hepworth Wakefield. This large-scale retrospective marks the gallery’s tenth anniversary. Great to see so many interesting loans; but I think I prefer my exhibitions with a smaller scale and a specific focus.

Barbara Hepworth At The Hepworth Wakefield

The Hepworth Wakefield celebrated its tenth anniversary in 2021! The gallery actually has a longer history than that; the Hepworth Wakefield subsumed the municipal art collection and earlier Wakefield Art Gallery, founded 1923. As well as this older collection of art spanning from Old Masters to the 20th Century, they have a large and important collection of works by Barbara Hepworth (of course), and good holdings of some of her contemporaries such as Henry Moore and Ben Nicholson (the latter also her husband).

But why Barbara Hepworth? Well, Hepworth was born (as Jocelyn Barbara Hepworth) in Wakefield in 1903, and educated in the city. She stayed nearby in Leeds for her art studies, meeting fellow Yorkshireman Henry Moore at the Leeds School of Art. She then won a scholarship to the Royal College of Art in 1921. Hepworth had a very firm connection in her working life to St Ives, in Cornwall; her studio is preserved there as a visitor attraction. She was also an adopter and promoter of ideas from art movements in continental Europe. But landscape and place continued to be a primary inspiration in her work, including formative experiences in Yorkshire.

The 2011 gallery opening drew huge visitor numbers to David Chipperfield’s acclaimed design. Wakefield Council’s purpose in relaunching its art gallery was to support regeneration, and attract tourism and investment. Celebrating ten years in a pandemic was probably not the moment they were hoping for, but they have marked the occasion by mounting a large-scale retrospective of their namesake, Barbara Hepworth: Art & Life. Let’s take a closer look now.

Barbara Hepworth: Art & Life

I didn’t actually realise before doing the research for this post that the Hepworth Wakefield held the city’s art collection. Every time I’ve visited, they’ve had some works by Hepworth on view, as well as maybe another temporary exhibition; no Old Masters in sight. For Barbara Hepworth: Art & Life, however, they have turned over all ten galleries to this large-scale retrospective.

The format of Barbara Hepworth: Art & Life is largely chronological. After an introductory gallery where we get a feel for her style, we start off with art school, and end with late works. Some of the galleries, in particular one which explores her techniques, I believe are largely unchanged from the permanent display. As well as works from their own permanent collection there are significant loans from other institutions and private collections. And a couple of commissions to go alongside the exhibition, which I will get onto shortly.

As Hepworth’s fame increased, she undertook a number of large-scale commissions, both public and private. Some of these are still in situ, for example a sculpture on the side of the John Lewis department store on Oxford Street, or one at the United Nations. Some of her models for these works are part of the exhibition. And her preference for making full-sized rather than scale working models means that any true Hepworth retrospective will be a big one. But I did find the sheer number of works on view at the Hepworth Wakefield a little overwhelming, and was feeling museum fatigue set in towards the end.

A Worthy Retrospective, Just Take Your Time

That is not to say that I didn’t enjoy the exhibition, because I did. But there wasn’t much of an ‘angle’ to the exhibition – the curators set out to create the largest exhibition of her work since her death in 1975, and that’s what they have done – so it feels like a lot of information to take in. This is perhaps just personal preference, and it might be best for me to stick to smaller-scale exhibitions which dive into a particular perspective on an artist’s work.

There are a couple of interesting contemporary commissions which do help to refresh energy levels by injecting something new into the visitor’s journey. Two of them are visual arts, and one sound-based. The visual artists are Veronica Ryan, the first artist to undertake a residency at Hepworth’s studio in St Ives, and Tacita Dean. Ryan has created sculptures which respond to Hepworth’s, particularly in the materials they use. And Dean has drawn on her collection of postcards in Significant Form to select images with sculptural potential, presenting them without attribution or explanation. Nwando Ebizie, meanwhile, has created an immersive sound work, The Garden of Circular Paths. At times it verges too much on a guided meditation for my liking, but it is interesting to give your experience of visiting an exhibition over to the instructions of another voice.

So in terms of large retrospectives, this is certainly a well-constructed one. As the images above demonstrate, there are a selection of works on paper and archival materials as well as sculptures. And I enjoyed seeing some of Hepworth’s lesser-known projects. Having now seen Barbara Hepworth: Art & Life, I will be well equipped to understand the artist and her work should any of those smaller, more intimate exhibitions come my way.

Salterton Arts Review’s rating: 3/5

Barbara Hepworth: Life & Art on until 27 February 2022 (and then touring)