arts

Hepworth in Colour review

Courtauld, LondonBarbara Hepworth’s elegant works, with their harp-like strings and splashes of blue, evoke the foamy breakers of St Ives. But should we really be surprised she used colour?

Hepworth in Colour review

TL;DR

  • The exhibition highlights Barbara Hepworth's use of color, primarily blue and white, inspired by the sea near her home in St Ives.
  • Her sculptures are described as lucid, geometrical, and evocative of natural elements like waves and seaweed.
  • The use of red strings in her sculptures adds a sense of movement and can be compared to an Aeolian harp.
  • The reviewer questions the exhibition's premise, finding the focus on her use of color reductive and suggesting her sculptures possess a power beyond mere color.
  • Hepworth's work is seen as capturing the solitude, peace, and vast time cycles of nature, rather than depicting it directly.