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The Hepworth Gallery in Wakefield opens

Mark Lawson reports on the new Hepworth art gallery in Wakefield, which includes works by sculptress Barbara Hepworth, who was born in Wakefield.

Since 2009, Mark Lawson has been following the progress of The Hepworth Wakefield - the new art gallery in the city of Wakefield dedicated to the Yorkshire-born sculptor Barbara Hepworth.

Hepworth, who was born in 1903, always said that growing up in Yorkshire with its contrasting rural and industrial landscapes had a huge impact on her development as an artist. However for many of her admirers, she is associated with St Ives in Cornwall because that is where she spent most of her working life.

The Hepworth Wakefield aims to reclaim Barbara Hepworth, with its galleries dedicated to her prototypes and drawings which show the work she put into her creations. The new building, designed by award-winning architect Sir David Chipperfield, also provides exhibition space for Hepworth's contemporaries and for artists of today.

Mark reports on the creation and aims of the gallery, in the company of the architect Sir David Chipperfield, the director of The Hepworth Wakefield Simon Wallis, art historian Dr Sophie Bowness, who is also Barbara Hepworth's granddaughter, sculptor Eva Rothschild and archive recordings of Barbara Hepworth herself.

Producer Ekene Akalawu.

Photograph of The Hepworth Wakefield by Jonty Wilde.

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30 minutes

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  • Mon 2 May 2011 19:15

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