Thirty-two members and wives travelled by car to The Hepworth Gallery, named after the famous sculptor Barbara Hepworth, to see the extensive permanent art collection and current temporary exhibits. Prof Paul Finan, Chair of the Leeds Probus Club, and his wife Diana were our guests for the day.
David Garrett, Head of Operations and Visitor Services, gave an introductory talk on the development of the Gallery in the magnificent auditorium, located on the banks of the River Calder. It was designed by the eminent architect David Chipperfield and completed in 2011. It’s a monolithic pigmented concrete structure containing ten trapezoid art spaces The Calder, its resident heron, the medieval bridge and Chantry Chapel, and Wakefield Cathedral were all prominent in the auditorium. through one of the many huge floor-to-ceiling glass windows in consecutive gallery spaces, with natural light from similar large windows and skylights to enhance the exhibits.
The building sits on a concrete raft supported by more than 100 piles. The building is energy efficient, cooled by river water. Constantly maintained and monitored temperature and humidity control is a condition of exhibiting priceless works of art loaned by international galleries.
Katy Merrington, Head Gardener, had already given an excellent Zoom talk to us during COVID lockdown. She gave another superb talk about the ongoing development of the garden, followed by an informal tour of it. The garden was designed and developed by Tom Stuart-Smith from industrial waste land and opened in 2019. It contains 14,000 perennials, beech hedging, with over 50 mature trees and shrubs. Sculptures and hedging act as a windbreak.
Wind tunnelling through the site is an ongoing challenge; it will be fascinating to see how the garden matures over the coming years.
An extremely good sandwich lunch, and carrot cake to die for, was followed by staggered guided tours of the pick of works by Barbara Hepworth , Henry Moore, Ben Nicholson, Graham Sutherland, Paul Nash, Jacob Epstein, Walter Sickert, Anthony Caro, Ivan Hitchens, LS Lowry and David Hockney.
There were also two very good current temporary exhibitions; 100 years of Surreal Landscapes, including works by Dali, Magritte and Picasso, and Elizabeth Fritsch’s stunning personal ceramics collection.
The ceramics caught everyone’s eye; how on earth did they manage to stay upright?
We were very impressed by David Garrett’s organisation of the meeting, with his great attention to detail, and Katy Merrington’s lecturing skills and friendly informality.
For further information about The Hepworth Gallery, see https://hepworthwakefield.org.