Barbara Hepworth (Wakefield, 1903 – St. Ives, 1975) studied at the Leeds School of Art and The Royal College of Art in England, where she was trained in the academic tradition. Her work is considered part of the abstract art movement, which at the time still evoked much resistance. At the beginning of the 1960s, at the end of her career, Hepworth gained great international fame and with it status, prizes and large commissions. In 1965, she received the Order of the British Empire. At age 72, she died in a fire at her studio in St. Ives, Cornwall. Her studio and her home today form the Barbara Hepworth Museum and Sculpture Garden.
