It’s staying home: UK raises £3.8 million to keep rare Barbara Hepworth sculpture

Published on 20/08/2025 - 11:23 GMT+2

The UK has raised £3.8 cardinal (approx. €4.4 million) to prevention a uncommon sculpture by British creator Barbara Hepworth for nan nation,The Hepworth Wakefield creation depository said connected Tuesday.

Hepworth’s 1943 ‘Sculpture pinch Colour (Oval Form) Pale Blue and Red’ will participate nan UK’s nationalist postulation and spell connected imperishable nationalist show astatine The Hepworth Wakefield, successful her West Yorkshire hometown.

Born successful 1903, Barbara Hepworth was 1 of nan starring and pioneering figures of British Modernism passim nan first half of nan 20th century.

Her ‘Sculpture pinch Colour (Oval Form) Pale Blue and Red’ “marks a breakthrough successful Hepworth’s career,” The Hepworth Wakefield said successful a statement.

She created nan portion astatine nan tallness of World War II aft she settled pinch her family successful St. Ives, Cornwall. She remained location until her decease successful 1975.

“It is 1 of only a fistful of woody carvings made by Hepworth during nan 1940s, and 1 of nan first awesome wood carvings she made utilizing strings.”

She went connected to nutrient a bid of notable stringed and colourful sculptures.

English creation collector Helen Sutherland first bought nan portion straight from nan creator successful 1944. It remained privately owned and mostly shielded from nationalist position ever since.

The artwork was astir precocious sold to a backstage collector astatine a Christie’s auction successful March 2024 successful London. But successful November, nan UK’s Department for Culture, Media and Sport placed a impermanent export barroom connected nan sculpture, citing its “outstanding relationship pinch our history and nationalist life, its outstanding artistic value and its outstanding significance” to nan study of Hepworth’s work.

“Dame Barbara Hepworth was a phenomenal creator genius,” Arts Minister Chris Bryant said successful a connection astatine nan time. “I dream a UK purchaser tin beryllium recovered for this sculpture truthful nan British nationalist tin proceed to study and prosecute pinch 1 our astir important artists for generations to come.”

The Hepworth Wakefield and UK kindness Art Fund launched a run successful June to raise nan £3.8 cardinal basal to bargain nan piece.

The run reached its target connected Tuesday, up of its 27 August deadline.

The entreaty resulted successful 2,800 donations from individual members of nan public, arsenic good arsenic respective awesome grants, including £1.89 cardinal from The National Lottery Heritage Fund and £750,000 from Art Fund.

“We deliberation [Hepworth] would person been delighted that truthful galore group person travel together to alteration her activity to beryllium portion of a nationalist creation postulation which tin beryllium knowledgeable and enjoyed by truthful many”, said The Hepworth Wakefield interim head and CEO Olivia Colling.

The assemblage will observe nan sculpture’s acquisition pinch a dedicated exhibition, pinch specifications to beryllium announced.