‘I rarely draw what I see. I draw what I feel in my body.'

While often compared to Henry Moore, Barbara Hepworth forged her own path in the world of sculpture, offering a unique perspective on modern art. Coming from a modest background, she began her studies at the Leeds School of Art before deepening her skills at the Royal College of Art in London, an institution steeped in the artistic tradition of the 19th century. Between 1924 and 1927, she stayed in Italy, absorbing influences from Etruscan and Roman sculpture while learning direct carving in Rome, a technique she would master brilliantly.

During the 1930s, her work took a decisive turn with the adoption of abstraction, particularly through her involvement in avant-garde collectives such as Abstraction-Création and Unit One. It was during this time that she began to experiment with pierced forms, an approach that allowed her to explore the interactions between light and matter while playing with the interior and exterior of forms.

The Second World War pushed her to retreat to Cornwall, where she found new sources of inspiration and began creating larger outdoor works, often in metals such as bronze, copper, and brass, in response to public commissions.