46 NADFAS REVIEW / WINTER 2011

WINDSOR CASTLE www.nadfas.org.ukNADFAS REVIEW / WINTER 201147framing views of Wakefield in addition tothe ceiling light slots, enabling works ofart to be shown in natural as well asartificial light and enhancing the sense of openness. The opening collection displays focuson Hepworth and place her within anational and international context. Worksin the permanent collection includeHepworth's Mother and Child, 1934, anearly carving from Ancaster stone thatillustrates the moment in Hepworth'scareer where she began to move fromfigurative to abstract work and becamepreoccupied with capturing the essenceof human relationships through thesimplification of form. This sits alongsidethe iconic Reclining Figure, 1936, byMoore, a sculpture that represents asimilar significant moment in thedevelopment of his work. Both artistsstudied together at Leeds and the RoyalCollege of Art, carving direct into stoneor wood as did Jacob Epstein and HenriGaudier-Brzeska, their radicalpredecessors in Britain, and sharing aninterest in artistic movements on theContinent. The displays are enhancedwith key loans from Tate, the ArtsCouncil Collection, the British Counciland other organisations that helpsupport this narrative, for example withworks by Brancusi, Mondrian and otherartists of the international avant-garde.Other displays focus on St Ives, theartists' colony in Cornwall where Hepworthand her second husband, Ben Nicholson,moved their young family prior to theoutbreak of the Second World War.Nicholson and fellow artist ChristopherWood first went to St Ives in the late1920s where they discovered the self-taught painter Alfred Wallis and wereinspired to develop a naïve style of theirown. The colony included Peter Lanyon,Patrick Heron, Terry Frost and others, aswell as Bernard and Janet Leach andthe studio ceramicists associated withthe pottery they established in the town. The gallery, designed by theinternationally acclaimed DavidChipperfield Architects - whose otherprojects include award-winning galleryTurner Contemporary in Margate, andthe rebuilding of the bombed-out NeuesMuseum in Berlin - offers a dramaticwaterfront setting thanks to its positionon a promontory on the River Calder.Located within a conservation area justoutside Wakefield city centre andsurrounded by historic Victorianwarehouses and a medieval chapel, thegallery offers views of its industrialheritage, its cathedral and, in thedistance, the Pennines. The River Calderwraps closely around the site so thatpart of the building sits directly in thewater, with a weir rushing onto its northside. Speaking of the project, Sir DavidChipperfield, said: "In Wakefield, it was[based on] the idea of trying to createsomething that had a certain authority,that would plant itself as if it couldn't beanywhere else other than there. Makingthe river form the edge was critical, buttechnically it was difficult."The gallery building is formed from aconglomeration of 10 individually sizedtrapezoidal blocks that respond to thescale and rooflines of the surroundinghistorical, industrial buildings. With wateron two sides and visibility from alldirections, the building has no front orback elevation. The gallery's façade isconstructed of pigmented concrete,'Hepworth Brown', which gives thebuilding a highly sculptural appearancePrevious page:Hepworth atwork on thePlaster SingleForm Memorial(left)and on thePlaster for OvalForm Trezion(main)Above:WingedFigurein situ atnight at JohnLewis, OxfordStreet, London,1963 and (right)Hepworthworking on thefirst stage of thearmature of theWinged Figureprototype, 1962 Photos: Studio St Ives Plates © Bowness, Hepworth Estate