A Collection for Wakefield

1 Jan 2020-1 Jan 2022

Overview

Wakefield’s art collection, now cared for by The Hepworth Wakefield, was founded in 1923 with the aim to nurture a public understanding of contemporary art and its relations to modern life. Wakefield Art Gallery gave particular support to emerging local artists Barbara Hepworth and Henry Moore, acquiring their work early in their careers. Since opening in 2011, The Hepworth Wakefield has maintained this tradition of supporting artists and championing emerging talent, as well continuing to collect works by the most prominent British artists of the 20th century. On display are recent acquisitions of work by artists including Wilfred Avery, Alan Reynolds and Jennifer Lee, alongside paintings by Maggi Hambling, Howard Hodgkin, L.S. Lowry and Yorkshire-born artist John Atkinson Grimshaw. A recently conserved sculpture by Kim Lim, is presented in dialogue with a late marble work by Hepworth, highlighting both artists’ interests in relationships between abstract art and nature.