The Hepworth Wakefield and the Art Fund have launched an urgent £3.8m appeal to prevent a rare Modernist sculpture from leaving the UK. The defining work is by Barbara Hepworth, one of Britain’s most important artists. Sculpture with Colour (Oval Form) Pale Blue and Red (1943), a singular masterpiece from Hepworth’s wartime years, faces export unless funds can be raised to secure it for The Hepworth Wakefield—the museum that bears her name, in the city of her birth.
Carved during the darkest days of World War II, the sculpture is a textbook example of the artist’s work. In 1939, she fled London for Cornwall with her young triplets, grappling with a scarcity of materials, no proper studio, and the pressures of war. By 1943, granted a special permit to source wood, she worked by lamplight to create this radical piece—one of her first stringed carvings and the only one to feature multicoloured threads stretched taut against a pale blue interior.
Its survival is miraculous. The plaster prototype (since destroyed) was the sole work Hepworth carried to St Ives, underscoring its significance. It stands as a bridge between her early abstract carvings and the monumental bronzes that would later define her style.
Now in private hands and rarely exhibited, the sculpture has been placed under a UK export bar, recognising its “outstanding significance” to British art and culture. The Hepworth Wakefield, in partnership with the Art Fund, is leading a campaign to raise £3.8m before the 27 August 2025 deadline. The Art Fund has pledged an exceptional £750,000, but the remaining £2.9m must come from public donations.
If successful, the acquisition would fill a gap in the museum’s collection—Hepworth’s transformative output of the 1940s—while ensuring the work tours UK institutions, sharing her genius nationwide. If not, it will likely be acquired by private owners abroad.
The campaign has galvanised artists and cultural leaders, including Antony Gormley, Anish Kapoor, Rachel Whiteread, and Richard Deacon, who describe the piece as “a fine example of Modernism” and “a tribute to Hepworth’s undaunted spirit.”
Simon Wallis, Director of The Hepworth Wakefield, said: “This sculpture is the missing piece—a masterpiece that belongs in Wakefield, where Barbara Hepworth’s journey began. Saving it would complete our mission to honour her legacy.”
Jenny Waldman, Director of Art Fund, added: “Every donation, no matter the size, brings us closer to keeping this Barbara Hepworth where it belongs: in the public realm, for generations to come.”
The Hepworth Wakefield holds the most extensive collection of Hepworth’s working models, offering unparalleled insight into her process. Yet it lacks a major finished work from the 1940s—the very decade this sculpture reshaped her practice. Its arrival would add to the museum’s status as the home of Hepworth scholarship while reaffirming Britain’s commitment to preserving its cultural heritage.
Designed by David Chipperfield Architects, the award-winning gallery overlooks the River Calder and houses Wakefield’s art collection alongside groundbreaking exhibitions. It’s Hepworth Family Gift—a trove of prototypes—offers visitors an intimate glimpse into the artist’s mind.
The Art Fund is a national charity for art, supported by 130,000 members, and helps museums acquire and share incredible works of art. Since 1906, it has saved over £1 billion worth of treasures for public collections.
How to Help: Donations can be made via artfund.org/hepworth. Time is short, and the stakes could not be higher. As Kapoor urges: “This is not just about saving a sculpture—it’s about safeguarding a chapter of art history.”
Top Photo: Barbara Hepworth at work on the stone carving ‘ Eidos’ (1947-48; National Gallery of Victoria, Melbourne, Australia). Taken in her studio at Chy-an-Kerris, Carbis Bay, St Ives © Bowness