Barbara Hepworth · a summer in Amsterdam
Barbara Hepworth with Curved FormBarbara Hepworth - Single Form - 1964
From 3 June to 23 October 2022, nine sculptures by the English artist Barbara Hepworth (1903-1975) will be on display in the public gardens of the Rijksmuseum in Amsterdam.
Source: Rijksmuseum · Barbara Hepworth with Curved Form (Trevalgan) in the garden of Trewyn Studio, St Ives, by Ida Kar, 1961 © National Portrait Gallery, London ·· “Construction (Crucifixion)” in St Ives churchyard, September 1968. Photo: Studio St Ives. Hepworth Photograph Collection. Barbara Hepworth © Bowness
As every year, the Rijksmuseum presents its summer exhibition of outdoor sculptures. After those dedicated to Ellsworth Kelly (in the 2021 edition), Louise Bourgeois (2019) and Eduardo Chillida (2018), this year the protagonist will be the English sculptor Barbara Hepworth (1903-1975), one of the leading figures of 20th century sculpture.
Most of the nine works included in the exhibition come from collections in Hepworth's native country, being exhibited almost permanently in prestigious venues. For example, "Monolith", the earliest work in the exhibition (1953-54) comes from the gardens of Kenwood House (Hampstead Heath) while "Construction (Crucifixion)" (1968) comes from the cloister garden of Salisbury Cathedral. In addition to these loans from British institutions, “Squares with Two Circles” (1963) is on loan from the Kröller-Müller Museum in the Netherlands.
Highlighting Hepworth's importance, the Rijksmuseum explains that "Barbara Hepworth is one of the sculptural pioneers of modernism, an early 20th century movement that broke with traditions and introduced innovative forms of expression. Hepworth was only in her 20s when she started attracting attention for her modern sculptures in wood, stone and marble. The piercing of holes in stone blocks became a characteristic trope in the artist’s work. She was one of the few female artists of her generation to enjoy international success, and she became a role model for younger generations. She also adopted an emancipatory stance through her insistence on being addressed as a sculptor rather than a sculptress. The current attention on her life and work is very much in line with the ongoing demand for a more balanced representation of male and female artists."
“Hepworth’s fame grew internationally in the post-war years, and she became a prominent figure in the modernist artistic colony based in St Ives. Her international reputation was confirmed when she was awarded the Grand Prix at the São Paulo Art Biennial in 1959; in 1964 her monumental Single Form' was placed in front of the United Nation’s building in New York as a memorial to the organisation’s secretary general Dag Hammarskjöld. The smaller version of this work which normally stands in London’s Battersea Park will be on display in the Rijksmuseum Gardens. In 1965, Hepworth was appointed Dame Commander of the Order of the British Empire and as the first female trustee of the Tate Gallery in London. ”
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