Gardens to visit: Cornwall, South West, UK
Entry Fee: £8 (£9 with donation)
Opening Times: Monday to Sunday 10.00 - 17.20
On a recent trip to St Ives, I visited the Barbara Hepworth Museum and Sculpture garden. Being the end of February in the South West, there's no surprise it was a little drizzly outside, however I was greeted with dry spells and blue skies whilst exploring the small, but magnificent space outside.
Museum and home: Trewyn House
Considering my art and design background, and the fact I attended university in Cornwall, I'd never visited this museum before, and knew very little about Barbara Hepworth.
The museum building itself was Hepworth's home and studio for the last 25 years of her life. Entering the house through an inconspicuous front door, into a wonderfully bright and minimal space, the exhibition begins with a series of letters, sketches and photographs illustrating Hepworth's life and career.
My instant reaction was not of dread, which I feel in many museums and art galleries. As someone who reads slowly, and has a relatively short attention span when greeted with countless texts in front of me, the collection of information and visuals were easy to digest and absorb, giving just the right level of introduction to who the artist was and what inspired her to produce the work so recognisable as hers.
Barbara Hepworth
Born in Wakefield, Yorkshire, in 1903, Hepworth won scholarships to study at Leeds school of Art, and later at the Royal College of Art in London.
Hepworth travelled and lived in Italy, where she married her first husband. They had a son after returning to London, but divorced soon after. Hepworth went on to marry a second time, giving birth to triplets (two girls and a boy).
"A woman artist is not deprived by cooking and having children, nor by nursing children with measles (even in triplicate) – one is in fact nourished by this rich life, provided one always does some work each day; even a single half hour, so that the images grow in one's mind."
During the outbreak of the second world war in 1939, Hepworth and her family moved to St Ives. And from 1949, Trewyn house became her home and studio until her death in 1975.
As an artist
As an artist and sculptor, Hepworth was inspired by nature, architecture and the world around her. Some artworks are about places she knew in Cornwall and other countries she visited. Her sculptures were carved out of stone, wood and metal. Her notable signature was to carve holes and other shapes through materials, enabling you to observe into the structures, and framing the views beyond.
“I think every person looking at a sculpture should use [their] own body. You can’t look at a sculpture if you’re going to stand stiff as a ramrod and stare at it. With a sculpture you must walk around it [or] bend towards it...”
The garden
Access to the garden is from the first floor. Clambering slowly out of the minimal house, the garden pulls you in and embraces you in green. Unlike the inside, sculptures are not obvious at first. They gently peep out behind trees and emerge above foliage, sneaking into view as you weave the narrow criss cross of paths encircling this small courtyard.
External buildings house Hepworth's tools and some in progress experiments. There's even a small bedroom I imagine was the perfect hideaway from a noisy family.
Each artwork was built and placed exactly as Hepworth wanted it. Snapshots of St Ives are framed by metal and stone. Puddles of water from the mornings downpour capture light and colour inside crevices, just as a lake might form in a valley. Shadows stretch from one structure to the next. Some sculptures nestle in the middle of borders, while others form focal points at significant junctions within the space.
To me, however, the star of the show has to be the way planting effortlessly compliments each and every piece of artwork. Some mimicking height and shape, while others contrast in texture. This beautiful outdoor space has been put so thoughtfully curated, showcasing not only Hepworth's talent as a sculptor, but even more so her natural ability to compose a garden.