Barbara Hepworth Sculpture Garden: Dame Barbara Hepworth 1903-1975 was a modernist sculptor, very influenced by rocks, cliffs, sea caves, nature and the universe. She lived through two world wars, and took care of her triplets during the privations of WWII as an artist barely making ends meet. She was married to the painter Ben Nicholson, and they moved to St. Ives in 1933. Her house and studio can be found on a small side street, a short walk from Tate St. Ives, which is very much worth a visit too. Often in an artist’s studio museum the best work is not displayed, but this is not the case—the second-floor studio contains a large group of Hepworth’s smaller pieces, as well as paintings by Ben Nicholson. The garden, on a rise looking out at the ocean, is an intimate setting for the great bronze sculptures displayed on the green lawn, with cherry trees and calla lilies, iris and peonies. There are two sculpture studios in glass houses attached to the house, both with sculptures in progress, tools at the ready, and maquettes on shelves as if she just walked away for a cup of tea. Huge, uncarved marble slabs sit outside on the patio because she had a delivery a few days before she died in a fire. She believed in the human connection to earth and space and lived long enough to witness man walking on the moon.
Tate St. Ives is a branch of the Tate in London, built from 1988-1993 on the site of a former glassworks. It has a magnificent view of Porthmeor Beach surrounded by cliffs. In 1980, the Tate took over the management of the Barbara Hepworth Museum, and then decided to open a museum dedicated to the local artists whose paintings were already in the Tate’s collection. This includes Ben Nicholson, Barbara Hepworth, Vanessa Bell, Patrick Heron and Winifred Nicholson (Ben Nicholson’s first wife before Barbara.)
