Barbara Hepworth (Died 1975 aged 72) – Modern sculpture using curves and string

(Pronounced bahr-bruh hep-wurth)

Barbara Hepworth – Barbed wire and hemp didn't work but string did

She tried barbed (Barbara) wire across the stone, she tried hemp but that wasn't worthwhile (Hepworth) either – but string was just perfect!

Note: Her sculptures were particularly known for using string.

Barbara Hepworth used multiple straight lines of string in her sculptures in such a way that they appeared curved, for example:

The use of six lines of string can appear to create a curve.

She is known for combining string lines, in particular, with blocks of smooth curved wood or stone with their internal surfaces painted white.

Hepworth liked to show the contrast between hard and soft curves, solids and voids when creating her abstract artwork.

She wanted her artwork to express the tension she felt between herself and the sea, the wind and the hills. The string, she believed, emphasised this tension between the interior and exterior surfaces of the work. The tension was further highlighted with the contrast between the polished wood and the matt, painted interior.

Many of Hepworth's other works had open voids and cavities within them.

Nobody before had created – Bold curved wood with string lines in the interiors