Barbara Hepworth: the sculptor in the studio

Abstract

Barbara Hepworth: The Sculptor in the Studio' is the first study devoted to Hepworth's St Ives studio in which the centrality of Trewyn Studio and garden to her art and life is brought to the fore. 'It affects my whole life & work most profoundly', she wrote to a friend in 1949 shortly before acquiring it. A history and a portrait of a unique place, the book illuminates the ways in which the place and the work are bound together. It explores Hepworth's working environment and the development of her practice over a period of 25 years. The studio, and especially the garden that Hepworth shaped, was the primary and ideal context in which her sculptures were viewed. Following Hepworth's death in 1975, Trewyn Studio was opened as the Barbara Hepworth Museum and Sculpture Garden, fulfilling the hopes she had expressed at the end of her life. The adaptation of Hepworth's studio-home to create the Museum is examined in detail.

Contents

Introduction: the sculptor in the studio -- Trewyn studio -- Hepworth's working life at Trewyn -- The garden at Trewyn studio -- From studio to museum: the creation of Barbara Hepworth Museum -- The opening of the Museum and the gift to the nation.