Curved Shape (1961) Barbara hepworth
Concert and congress building De Doelen has a considerable (post-war) art collection, including the statue Curved Shape by world famous English artist Barbara Hepworth. In Hepworth's sculptures, the viewer is captivated by the mysterious power of playing spaces. The organic feminine form of Curved Shape (1961) is interrupted by an open curve, which creates an awareness of the intrinsic space. The opening is part of the shape and it brings it into contact with the surrounding space. Making connections through the tensioned cables seem to represent vibrations, emotions or experiences, but the transparency remains. Hepworth is one of the leading sculptors in the field of abstract sculpture in the mid-20th century. On March 8, 2022, International Women's Day, the foyer where the statue stands was renamed the Barbara Hepworth Foyer.
Barbara Hepworth (Wakefield, England, 1903 – St. Ives, England, 1975) studied at the Leeds School of Art and The Royal College of Art in England, where she was educated in the academic tradition. Her work is considered part of the abstract art movement that still aroused a lot of resistance at the time. At the beginning of the 1960s, at the end of her career, Hepworth achieved great international fame and with it status, awards and large commissions. In 1965 she was awarded the Order of the British Empire. At the age of 72, Hepworth died in a fire in her studio in St. Ives in Cornwall. Her studio and home today form the Barbara Hepworth Museum and Sculpture Garden.