The Hepworth

We greatly enjoyed our visit to The Hepworth  in Wakefield.
As you cross the footbridge from the car park, the building looks stark austere and angular, made of large blocks of concrete, not broken up by many windows at all.
Once inside this impression is reversed. The galleries are laid out in a fan shape, and many have large windows, providing a light airy exhibition space, and affording marvelous views over the river Calder and its weir.  The building stands on a curve in the river, and so has river on three sides.
The exhibition space is all on the first floor, reached by stairs or lift, while all the facilities - reception, cloakroom, toilets, shop and cafe are on the ground floor.
We were particularly pleased to visit the temporary exhibition while Kettle's Yard in Cambridge is being renovated. We enjoyed our visit there, and were pleased to see again some of the exhibits we had seen before. The statues of Henri Gaudier-Brzeska had passed me by before, but this time I was drawn to their angular lines, and by contrast, a very flowing delicate figure of a dancer.
One temporary exhibition was of the painter Stanley Spencer, and a further one showed many smaller drawings and doodles by David Storey, better known for his novels, and like Hepworth hales from Wakefield.
As you would expect, there were a good few statues, including some by Barbara Hepworth and by Henry Moore.  They met at the Leeds School of Art where they both studied, and later they both studied in London at the Royal College of Art. In some ways their styles are quite similar, but the exhibition said that while Henry Moore was most known for his reclining figures, Barbara Hepworth is more associated with standing figures.
There are two galleries dedicated to Barbara Hepworth's work alone. One gave details of her career, her studios, her tools, her way of working, as well as stories about individual pieces. The other was a collection of models used to cast her pieces. Some of these were on a considerable scale, and the room was dominated by the model for Winged Figure, which stands on the side of the John Lweis building in London.
Our Tea and Cake at the cafe was very welcome, and next visit we will choose afternoon tea for two which was priced very reasonably at £15.00. As is often the way, the shop cost us more, but we have books and pictures to enjoy. Entry the the museum and all the exhibitions is free, and the car park cost £5.00.
We will certainly come again, and visit the nearby sculpture park as well.