The Hepworth Wakefield: Yorkshire's major new art gallery

V Continuing Hepworth’s legacy
‘The trustees of the Hepworth estate see Wakefield as the most appropriate
permanent home for the plasters to be seen amongst the works of her
contemporaries and in the city where she was born and grew up.’
— Sir Alan Bowness CBE, Trustee of the Hepworth estate
The Hepworth Wakefield will celebrate Barbara Hepworth’s association with
Wakefield and the inspiration she drew from the Yorkshire landscape. Its centrepiece
will be a unique gift from the Hepworth estate of over thirty original sculptures by
the Wakefield-born artist – many of which have never been seen in public before. The
sculptures will be shown alongside Hepworth’s workshop tools, rare documentary
film of the artist at work and The Hepworth Wakefield’s excellent representative
collection of her early carvings. Together they will provide a remarkable insight into
the creative process of one of the world’s greatest sculptors.
Hepworth’s most iconic public commissions are represented in The Hepworth
Wakefield collection. These include the monumental Single Form for the United
Nations Secretariat Building in New York that sealed her international reputation.
Key bronzes and later carvings on long-term loan from the Hepworth estate and
Tate will give visitors a complete picture of Hepworth’s career.
Alongside Tate St Ives, The Hepworth Wakefield will be an internationally recognised
centre for Hepworth’s work. A contemporary exhibition and commissioning
programme will continue to build on Hepworth’s ambitions and concerns and offer
opportunities for emerging and established artists to put on high profile exhibitions
in a very special context. It will ensure that Hepworth’s legacy continues to inspire
current and future generations.