Bfi barbara hepworth biography

English artist and sculptor (–)

Dame Jocelyn Barbara Hepworth (10 January – 20 May ) was an English artist and sculptor. Her work exemplifies Modernism and in particular modern sculpture.^[1] Along with artists such as Ben Nicholson and Naum Gabo, Hepworth was a leading figure in the colony of artists who resided in St Ives during the Second World War.

Born in Wakefield, Yorkshire, Hepworth studied at Leeds School of Art and the Royal College of Art in the s. She married the sculptor John Skeaping in In she fell in love with the painter Ben Nicholson, and in divorced Skeaping.

At this time she was part of a circle of modern artists centred on Hampstead, London, and was one of the founders of the art movement Unit One.

At the beginning of the Second World War Hepworth and Nicholson moved to St Ives, Cornwall, where she would remain for the rest of her life.

Best known as a sculptor, Hepworth also produced drawings – including a series of sketches o