Barbara hepworth biography book

'This biography’s value and novelty are level-headedness and fine-grained research.

Barbara hepworth biography book A continued focus on her modernist abstract sculpture of the s and its relation to the work of her male contemporaries has left elements of her work and related passions overlooked. Fascinating woman. She of the few female artists of her generation achieved international prominence. Adventures with Van Gogh.

Clayton explains rather than exculpates, narrates rather than judges. She sets Hepworth talking through the pages, quoting generously from letters … The book’s illustrations (nearly of them, mostly colour) bring together a lifetime’s vision …The pages glow and thrum with stringed bronze, humped wood and bored stone, with cool white plaster scooped and painted'
Guardian

'Through both the book and exhibition we gain a sense of Hepworth as a strong, clear-headed figure moving back and forth within a set of influences: her beloved children, her lifelong faith as a Christian Scientist, romantic love, music, her interest in the spiritual realm and her fascination with materials and the natural world'
Hettie Judah, The i

'Well-researched and richly illustrated… Having access to previously unavailable private correspondence, Clayton provides a fascinating account of Hepworth’s yearning to bridge the gap between her art and life by finding harmony, rhythm and balance within materials This book will vividly illuminate hitherto unknown aspects of her life and prolific art practice, and will be an inspiration to many'
FX Magazine

'Thoughtful and enjoyable… The biography’s many excellent illustrations, aligned with relevant passages of text, have helped Clayton put together a comprehensive account of Barbara Hepworth’s talent and determination'
The Spectator

'This biography – and the exhibition at The Hepworth Wakefield – extends throughout her career, shedding new light on her interests and relationships, and how the artist held conflicting ideas and forces, and made sense of them through her work'
Arts Society

'Wonderful illustrated biography'
Daily Mail

'This new book by The Hepworth Wakefield’s curator Eleanor Clayton reveals a multifaceted life informed by dance, music, poetry and theatre, as well as science and technology.

Complete with in-depth sketchbook annotations, drawings, paintings and in-progress documentary footage, it fully brings the artist’s world to life'
Elephant

'Eleanor Clayton is the author of this exemplary biography of the artist. With clarity, modesty, and skilled appreciation, she tells the story of Hepworth’s life and work in a way that can be equally enjoyed by specialist and general reader alike'
Lord Harries, Church Times

'Anybody who likes her sculpture in bronze, wood and stone, and the life she found in them, will want to see this fully illustrated account of her work and to read her correspondence'
Mature Times

'A fascinating and significant contribution to the existing body of Hepworth scholarship'
Art Quarterly