Is 'Hepworth in Colour' a Hit at Courtauld Gallery in London?

[00:00:00]Welcome to Art Gallery Explorer, the vlog which explores and celebrates the London art scene. Do subscribe and hit that notification bell for coverage of all the big London shows. I'm going to put on some music to accompany Barbara Hetworth's works before sharing my thoughts on the show at the end. But as always, do mute if the music's not your taste or replace it with something that is.

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[00:08:51][music] Heat. [music] Well, I hope you enjoyed that exploration of Heworth in color from the Cortell Gallery. I always think about these shows in terms of the good, the bad, and the beautiful. And there was a lot of good in this exhibition. I particularly like the exquisite form of Hetworth's work. I know that's a cliche thing to say, but that organic form which reminds us of the the curved bays of of [clears throat] Cormal and obviously of the sea and this the sea echoed through this show. And I just wanted to almost like place some of the smaller works in the palm of my hand.

[00:09:58]They they [clears throat] look so beautiful. And I think for me Heworth is probably my favorite 20th century British sculpture and one of my favorites from from around the world as well. And I particularly like her smaller works. I was at the Henry Moore show. Do check out that vlog um at Q Gardens and I enjoy Henry Moore, but I think I I I enjoy Hetworth more.

[00:10:18]Secondly, the first room was was brilliant. I thought that was the highlight and this contained works all from the 1940s. And I love being reminded about what a productive period that wartime was for Hetworth as an artist. For some artists, I'm thinking like Paul Vzel was the the war was a disastrous full stop towards their career which ruined a lot of a lot of creativity. But for Hetworth, you know, she left um London 5 days before the declaration of war in 1939 with with a young family with her husband and she had so many constraints that that she was up against in terms of time clearly, in terms of space, finding a studio space and in terms of access to resources. Um and yet she and she had to get a certificate um for example in the war to be able to have special permission to carve from wood. Such was a shortage of resources. And yet [clears throat] these constraints almost seem to inspire her to a new phase of her career. And I love being reminded of that. That was really fantastic. And obviously this show is is claiming to be the first which specifically and explicitly engages just with Heworth's use of color. And it was really interesting to see how that developed.

[00:11:31]But I loved most of all her restraint.

[00:11:34]So often in modern art, you can be colorbombed, can't you? It's like too much. And even with with great artists like Van Go, you can be as well sometimes or you can be immersed in color. But she was [clears throat] incredibly careful with how she used color. Yes. Sometimes it was a big physically big part of the the work like in her deep blue sculptures, but often it was a dash or a very small part of the overall work like this one, red tension, which made me smile because the red is, you know, in terms of space, such a small part of the overall um overall work. And I loved that. I loved her sparing use of color. She clearly thought very carefully about color in the little exhibition guide you get at the CTO. And I'm so pleased, by the way, that they do still produce these. the much missed at Tate Tate Tate uh modern and tape Britain. Um you know she says her use of color was often misunderstood and I could begin to see why a little bit in this exhibition. Um so there was lots I enjoyed about it. Um it was a rewarding exhibition. In terms of the bad, I thought that room two, these were only minor quibbles. I thought room two didn't flow as well in terms of the relationship between the works as room one did. was covering a wider span of her career. Um, and I found myself getting a little bit lost in what was still a small room in terms of where I was meant to be, where I was meant to be heading. But that's only a small quibble. I would say as well, I found the sculptures um much more compelling than some of the work on the walls, the drawings and the paintings, etc. Um, there was more paintings and sculptures and I'd have liked to have seen the balance the other way round because you you keep being drawn to what is a, you know, what is a real massive strength.

[00:13:18]Um, and then being torn away to the wall and then back to the sculptures and um, but but but lots of the drawings were still interesting. Some of them were really compelling and they did tell the story. So, that's only a very minor quibble. Just be warned, when I went it was a Saturday and it was very busy, which I'm pleased with, by the way, because I think I obviously want galleries to be really successful and and I'm I'm thrilled that some of the time slots were selling out. Um, but it is a show you kind of want to have a little bit of space to circle around um the sculptures specifically. So, try and look for a quieter time if you possibly can do. And there are some late openings as well on Fridays. In terms of the beautiful, I would have to go for one of the small plaster deep blue works with red strings. I I love those. Um I I would love one one of those. It it would bring me great pleasure somewhere in the house as I'm sure it would you. But I found those to be absolutely exquisite.

[00:14:16]Overall, I'm giving this show an 8 out of 10. It comes recommended and I would really get along if you can do. This show is on until the 6th of September.

[00:14:26]It's £18 to get in, £20 with a donation.

[00:14:29]And happily, the art fund discount is back for exhibitions at the CLD, or at least it was for this one. So, I was thrilled with that. I don't know if that's going to be a permanent thing or not. Do by the way, if you're interested in 20th century British sculpture, um, check out my Henry Moore vlog from Q Gardens. That was an epic [clears throat] show on a very, very different scale to this. And Anish Kapoor will be coming up over the next month as well on the vlog. So, um, it's turning into a bit of a summer of British sculpture. Uh, but thank you ever so much for watching. Don't forget to subscribe and hit that notification bell for loads more London art.