The first artist highlighted in Art Talk is Barbara Hepworth and thanks to Carol one of my fellow readers at GoodReads I found out that her birthday was yesterday. What helped her stand out to me while reading the book was that she was a sculptor and I have not known of many female sculptors.

Barbara Hepworth, Tides I, 1946, Tate ©

Born and raised in England, Hepworth was one of four children and while studying art at the Leeds School of Art meet another English sculptor Henry Moore, who became a lifelong friend. From Leeds she went on to study at the Royal Collage of art in London and then in Italy. She was married twice, both times to artists and had four children, including triplets in 1934. In her interview with Cindy Nemser she said about being a mother and wife;

“I found it was a great inspiration to me. I loved the family and everything to do with them. I loved the environment and the cooking. I used to cook and go in my studio. I had to have methods of working. If I was in the middle of work and the oven burned or the children called for me, I used to make an arrangement with music, records or poetry, so that when I went back to the studio, I pick up where I left off. I enjoyed it, you see; it was part of me. (p.14)”

Her work evolved over time, sometimes completely abstract shapes and at others figures or other forms where apparent. Many of my favorite pieces by her are the circular, curved, hollow shapes. In fact I have discovered that one of her pieces is in the Hirshhorn Sculpture Garden here in D.C., a goal for this year is to go see it in person. In fact it has been a while since I visited the Hirshhorn and this may be the excuse I need.

Barbara Hepworth Figure For Landscape, 1960, Hirshhorn Sculpture Garden

She did continue to gain recognition, both in her native England and around the world, one of her pieces is in the United Nations Plaza in New York City (Single Form) and in 1965 she was made a Dame Commander of the Order of the British Empire.  On May 20, 1974 she died in a fire at her home, today the house is the Barbara Hepworth Museum and Sculpture Garden, part of the Tate museums in England.

Links:

• Barbara Hepworth
• Book on Barbara Hepworth
• National Museum of Women in the Arts

I finished reading Art Talk by Cindy Nemser, a book that I was given as a high school graduation gift. Since then the book has moved with me several times and never been read. This fall when I finished up most of my class reading I finally picked it up as my “gym” book. The teacher who had given this book to me, clearly knew me better when I was 17 then I knew myself at 30. If I had read the book before now I am not sure that I would have found it so inspiring, however when I was only a few pages in it connected perfectly with me.  It has been a stars aligning sort of experience and has been yet another marker on my journey letting me know that going back to school is what I was meant to do.

Art Talk by Cindy Nemser via Goodreads

The book itself is a little dated, originally published in 1975 the artists have evolved since its publication but their attitudes toward art as a female artist does not change with time. The whole book is a collection of  interviews between Cindy Nemsert and 15 female artists. Her focus is on the struggle to become an artist as a female and discussing the culture of the art world in the 50′s through the 70′s. Many of the artists she sits down with share with her how they have managed to do what was seen as impossible, be a wife, a mother and an artist. It is their attitudes that are inspiring. They talk about sacrifices and adapting while still remaining themselves and not compromising there artistic goals. Those that married show how important a supportive husband is in reaching goals and in the case of Lee Krasner, how important a supportive wife can be in helping her husband reach his goals as well.

Each artist opened up a new avenue of thinking about art to me and has inspired me to learn even more about their work. The book also provides a wonderful look at the crossing paths or artists, gallery owners,  art critics and surprisingly how influential de Kooning was. Never really a fan of his work, these artists insights into his work has perused me to take a deeper look at his art. Definitely a interesting idea, a book on female artists inspiring the study of a male artist, who many critics and art viewers have felt present women as violent and or being violated.