Battle to stop removal of wartime sculpture from Britain
After buying Sculpture with Colour (Oval Form) Pale Blue and Red by Dame Barbara Hepworth for more than £3.5 million in March last year, the purchaser wanted to take it out of Britain.
Art Fund, a charity that raises funds to aid the acquisition of artworks for the nation, is spearheading a campaign to keep it from being taken from British shores.
In November, the Government placed an export bar on the sculpture, which was created in Cornwall during the height of the Second World War. This gave institutions until Aug 27 to match the bid of the owner.
Art Fund, which provides financial support for museums and the Hepworth Wakefield, has provided £750,000 of the amount needed, leaving £2.9 million still required.
Eleanor Clayton, the senior curator at the Hepworth Wakefield and an expert on the sculptor, said the work needed to remain in the UK for the benefit of future generations.
She said: 'The piece is one of the earliest and best examples of the wooden, string-carved sculptures that she became really well known for.
'There's only a handful of painted wooden strung works that she made during the whole of the 40s. And you can see this all in this work that she made whilst juggling childcare and domestic chores.'
The sculpture was completed in 1943 after Hepworth moved to St Ives, Cornwall, with her family. She remained there until her death in 1975, aged 72.
The artwork has always been in private ownership after being acquired directly from Hepworth by Helen Sutherland in 1944. It was shown as part of a Hepworth exhibition at Tate Britain in 2015.
Campaigners now hope that the piece can be purchased and permanently kept on public display.
Artists and creatives including Jonathan Anderson, Richard Deacon, Katy Hessel, Sir Anish Kapoor, Veronica Ryan, Joanna Scanlan and Dame Rachel Whiteread have backed the appeal.
Jenny Waldman, the director of Art Fund, said: 'These campaigns are very rare. Help us to save an absolutely key work of art for the nation.
'It will be enjoyed, researched and be the source of inspiration for generations to come. Please join us in helping to save this remarkable work for everyone to enjoy.'
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