Barbara Hepworth: The Plasters

The donation of Barbara Hepworth's plasters to The Hepworth Wakefield establishes one of the landmark art collections in Britain. It was in plaster that Hepworth experimented most as she made the transition from stone and wood to bronze, testing the potential of her new material as she went. In her perceptive text Sophie Bowness describes clearly the different means by which this increasingly important artist made her plaster works, and why. Dr Chris Stephens, Curator of Modern British Art and Head of Displays, Tate Britain The Hepworth Wakefield is the result of a unique combination of two English spatial intellects. Barbara Hepworth's work is characterised by an extreme refinement of form, sensibility of material and tenacity of purpose. The building that David Chipperfield has designed to house her work combines tough formal precision with a playful organicism that exactly complements her indomitable spirit as a pioneering woman sculptor. This gallery in Wakefield will become a place of pilgrimage for lovers of sculpture and a place of inspiration for all. Antony Gormley, Sculptor Sophie Bowness' s magnificent catalogue richly illustrates the works and illuminates their histories through archival photographs demonstrating everything from the varied tools used by Hepworth to the logistical problems of transporting the monumental pieces through the narrow streets of St Ives, where she worked from 1949 until 1975. Bowness's essay gives much-needed attention to Hepworth's studio practice, as well as to her relations with foundries, and details the revolutions of her public commissions. It fully demonstrates what a valuable gift the Hepworth Wakefield is to her home town. Peter Maber 'Sophie Bowness's magnificent catalogue richly illustrates the works and illuminates their histories through archival photographs ... Bowness's essay gives much-needed attention to Hepworth's studio practice, as well as to her relations with foundries, and details the evolutions of her public commissions.' TLS