Latest news with #DameBarbaraHepworth
Telegraph
3 days ago
- Politics
- Telegraph
Battle to stop removal of wartime sculpture from Britain
A fundraising campaign has been launched to try and stop a wartime sculpture from being taken overseas by its new owner. 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.'
BBC News
4 days ago
- Business
- BBC News
Wakefield gallery raising £3.8m for Barbara Hepworth 'masterpiece'
A West Yorkshire art gallery is attempting to raise sufficient funds to purchase a Dame Barbara Hepworth sculpture "for the nation".The Hepworth Wakefield wants to buy Sculpture With Colour (Oval Form) Pale Blue And Red, created in the 1940s, in order for it to go on permanent public oval-shaped piece, which sold for more than £3.5m in 2024, was later given a temporary export bar preventing it from leaving the country - providing a UK gallery the chance to acquire it. The Art Fund charity has offered £750,000 towards the cost, however a further £2.9m is required before a 27 August deadline. If the target was not met, the sculpture by the Wakefield-born artist would go to a private buyer and be taken appeal is backed by artists and creatives including Sir Antony Gormley, Anish Kapoor, Jonathan Anderson, Richard Deacon, Katy Hessel, Veronica Ryan, Joanna Scanlan and Dame Rachel piece is one of only a handful of wooden carvings made by the artist during the 1940s, when she lived in St Ives, Cornwall, with her young family. If bought, the Hepworth said it would be a "star piece" in its gallery also planned to lend it to other museums and galleries across the UK, "opening up access for people everywhere".Simon Wallis, gallery director, said: "We established The Hepworth Wakefield 14 years ago to celebrate, explore and build on Barbara Hepworth's legacy. "This sculpture is the missing piece, a masterpiece which deserves to be on display in the town where Hepworth was born." Sir Antony said: "Barbara Hepworth's work remains a luminary example of both an engagement with modernism and a return to direct carving."The opportunity for the museum named after her to acquire this important work is precious and should be supported."The gallery is home to Wakefield's art collection, including significant works by Dame Barbara but excluding her finished works from the Waldman, Art Fund director, said: "This rare and significant sculpture should be on public display in the UK now and for generations to come. "Every museum should have the power to secure landmark works of art but in today's challenging funding climate they simply cannot compete with the prices demanded on the open market." She added: "We applaud The Hepworth Wakefield for the huge ambition of their bid to bring this Hepworth home." Listen to highlights from West Yorkshire on BBC Sounds, catch up with the latest episode of Look North.
