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Barbara Hepworth Why Google Doodles Celebrate the English Artist and Sculptor

Barbara Hepworth Why Google Doodles Celebrate the English Artist and Sculptor

Barbara Hepworth Why Google Doodles Celebrate the English Artist and Sculptor
Hepworth was one of the few female artists of her generation to achieve international fame, and her work still epitomizes the artistic movement of Modernism.

Hepworth was one of the few female artists of her generation to achieve international fame, and her work still epitomizes the artistic movement of Modernism.

Here's everything you need to know about the famous artist

Who was Barbara Hepworth?

Barbara Hepworth was born on January 10, 1903 in Wakefield, West Yorkshire, and it quickly turns out that a creative spark settled with her.


She received awards in music from Wakefield High School for Girls from the age of 12, and soon won a scholarship to study at Leeds Art School just a few years later.

There, she met fellow Yorkshire and sculptor Henry Moore.

The spouses would foster a friendly career rivalry that has continued throughout both careers; Hepworth was the first to carve the perforated figures characteristic of her and Moore's work.

Google Doodles

To whom was she married


In 1931, Hepworth met her second husband - painter Ben Nicholson - while on vacation in Hapsburg on the Norfolk coast.

The couple co-founded the Unity 1 art movement - which sought to unify surrealism and abstraction in British art - and were married in 1938, four years after welcoming triplets Rachel, Sarah and Simon to the world.

Hepworth found ways to nurture her children and continue to produce art.

About motherhood, she said: "The artist does not forbid her to cook and have children In fact, this rich life is nourished on the condition that she does something every day, even for half an hour, until the images grow in one's mind."

Google Doodles

When did you move to St. Ives

After the outbreak of World War II in 1939, Hepworth and her family's children went to live in Cornwall.


St Ives became a refuge for many artists during the war, and Hepworth was a prominent figure in the colony of creators who resided there, and she co-founded the Penwith Art Society with her husband.


After the conflict, Hepworth's fame and fame began to rise internationally.

She was uncomfortable with the attention, especially the personal promotion of her work.

Google Doodles

How did she die


Her new global fame allowed Hepworth to increase her studio space.

In 1960, she purchased the Palais de Danse, a former cinema and ballroom across the street from Trewyn Studios. She used the space to work on large scale committees.

She died in an accidental fire at Trewyn Studios in May 1975 at the age of 72.

Who created the doodles?


Today's doodles were created by artist Matt Cruikshank, whose style was to replicate Hepworth's St.
Google Doodles

The doodles depict Hepworth's "direct sculpture" method.

As most artists had approached the materials with a preconceived idea of ​​what the final product would look like, Hepworth was influenced by the media she was working with, which allowed her time with them to shape the end result.

“One of Hepworth’s quotes was“ Draw how I feel in my body, ”says Cruikshank.

The artist hopes that the doodles will allow people to "look forward to realizing what Barbara did - to form shapes in balance with nature and harmony, whether that shape is sculpture, writing, music, or even just ourselves."