'Barbara Hepworth: Sculpture for a Modern World' at Tate Britain

Barbara Hepworth was born in Yorkshire in 1903. She lived in Cornwall since 1939 and has become principally associated with the art of St Ives and with the sea and landscape of that place. This exhibition presents her in a broader light and spans her whole career.

Hepworth emerged in the late 1920s as a leading member of a new generation of sculptors. Her work became increasingly abstract in the 1930s and, after moving to Cornwall, she began to make sculpture in terms of her experience of landscape. She continued to carve throughout her life, but from 1956 she also made works in bronze which allowed her to produce more and which were better suited to international travel.

This exhibition traces Hepworth’s growing international success offering fresh ways of thinking about her art. Uniquely, this retrospective also plays with the different spaces in which Hepworth presented her work – the show includes an impressive reconstruction of a modernist structure to showcase Hepworth’s ‘ideal’ environment. Among the highlights are four large sculptures in sumptuous African hardwood – the high point in her post war carving career – reunited in one room.

Alongside sculpture the show features fascinating photographs that have never been seen before in public, rarely seen textiles, collages, film and selected works by her peers and predecessors from Jacob Epstein to Henry Moore.

Barbara Hepworth: Sculpture for a Modern World
Tate Britain: Exhibition
24 June – 25 October 2015

Free for Tate Members  

Adult £18.00 (without donation £16.30)
Concession £16.00 (without donation £14.50)
Help Tate by including the voluntary donation to enable Gift Aid
No booking fees with this exhibition
Under 12s go free (up to four per parent or guardian). Family tickets available (two adults & two children 12-18 years) by telephone or in the gallery.

Tickets can be booked 8 hours or more in advance online, and at least 24 hours or more in advance by telephone +44 (0)20 7887 8888.

Book now to see Barbara Hepworth, one of the leading sculptors of the 20th century. This retrospective of one of Britain’s greatest artists features many of her most significant and beautiful sculptures in wood, stone and bronze alongside rarely seen works.

Related events

Special event
Barbara Hepworth inspired Summer Garden
13 June – 25 September 2015
Members' Private View: Barbara Hepworth
Tuesday 23 June 2015, 10.00 – 17.15
Thursday 25 June 2015, 18.45 – 21.30
Tuesday 14 July 2015, 18.45 – 21.30
Members' Private View Tours: Barbara Hepworth
Tuesday 23 June 2015, 11.00 – 12.00
Tuesday 23 June 2015, 12.30 – 13.30
Tuesday 23 June 2015, 14.00 – 15.00
Tuesday 23 June 2015, 15.30 – 16.30
Curator's talk for Members: Barbara Hepworth
Thursday 25 June 2015, 19.00 – 20.30
Members' Hours: Barbara Hepworth
Saturday 17 October 2015, 9.00 – 10.00
Sunday 18 October 2015, 9.00 – 10.00
Saturday 24 October 2015, 9.00 – 10.00
Sunday 25 October 2015, 9.00 – 10.00

Private view
Teachers' private view: Barbara Hepworth
Friday 3 July 2015, 18.30 – 20.30
Courses and workshops
Introduction to Stone Carving
One-day course between 10.00–17.30. Select your day when booking, either Saturday 4 July or Sunday 5 July 2015
Audio Description Workshop: Barbara Hepworth & Sculpture for a Modern World
Monday 20 July 2015, 14.00 – 16.00
Barbara Hepworth: staging object, image and artist
Saturday 17 October 2015, 11.00 – 17.00

Film
Reverence and Reproach: Modernist Legacies in Contemporary Film and Video
Monday 6 July 2015, 18.30 – 20.30

Daily activities
Desire Lines: Summer families activity
11 July – 13 September 2015 Tuesday – Sunday, 10.00–18.00

Talks and lectures
Guided exhibition tours: Barbara Hepworth
Wednesdays, Fridays and Saturdays at 12.15, 15 July – 17 October, 2015
Access and Community Out of Hours: Barbara Hepworth
Wednesday 2 September 2015, 18.30 – 20.30
BSL Tour: Barbara Hepworth: Sculpture for a Modern World
Saturday 19 September 2015, 11.00 – 12.00
Curator’s Talk: Barbara Hepworth: Sculpture for a Modern World
Friday 25 September 2015, 18.30 – 20.30
Curator’s Tour: Barbara Hepworth: Sculpture for a Modern World
Friday 9 October 2015, 18.30 – 20.30
Contemporary Artists on Barbara Hepworth
Wednesday 14 October 2015, 18.30 – 20.00

www.tate.org.uk