Dame Barbara Hepworth

(1903-1975)

Barbara Hepworth was a pioneering British sculptor, best known for her abstract, pierced forms that explore space, balance, and the relationship between mass and void. A central figure in modernist sculpture, she worked across wood, stone, and bronze, often incorporating string to create works that emphasise tension and harmony, and became closely associated with the artistic community in St Ives. Although primarily recognised for her sculpture, Hepworth produced an important group of lithographs in the late 1960s and early 1970s. Among these are the 'Opposing Forms' and 'Two Forms' series, in which she translated her sculptural language into two dimensions through interlocking shapes, subtle tonal shifts, and carefully balanced compositions that echo the spatial tensions of her carved work. These lithographs were printed at Curwen Studio under the direction of Stanley Jones, whose collaborative approach enabled Hepworth to explore the expressive potential of the medium. Jones would visit Hepworth in Cornwall and send proofs back from the Studio in London. He later recounted that the textures on some of her lithographs resulted accidentally from the sea salt in the air reacting with the surface of the plate, causing technical difficulty for Jones, but teh marks were embraced by Hepworth and became part of the work.