Barbara Hepworth: Carving New Spaces in Modernism

St Albans Museum + Gallery is hosting a talk on Barbara Hepworth on Thursday 10 December, with art historian Sophie Lachowsky taking the lead. It's part of the museum's wider programme around the exhibition Still Lives from the Hepworth Wakefield, which runs from October 2026 through to April 2027, so if you've been following the show, this is a good way to dig a bit deeper.

Hepworth (1903–1975) is best known for her direct carving, her organic shapes, and the way she worked with colour — all of which came from her deep connection between the human form and the natural world. She was part of a close circle of refugee artists, architects, and designers who brought radical new perspectives to Britain before and during the Second World War, and Lachowsky's talk looks at how Hepworth's body of work engaged with European Modernism and helped open up new visions. It's the kind of session that works whether you're already familiar with her sculpture or just starting to look into her.

Sophie Lachowsky is an art historian, independent lecturer, and writer who graduated from the Courtauld Institute with an MA in History of Art, specialising in Modernist sculpture. She'll be leading the session from the museum, so it's a chance to hear from someone who knows the subject inside out rather than just a general overview.

The talk starts at 7:00pm at St Albans Museum + Gallery, in the Town Hall on St Peter's Street (AL1 3DH). Tickets are £10 to attend in person, and £6 if you'd rather join via Zoom — the link for that gets sent out at 5:30pm on the day. If you're planning on coming down, there's a bit of a deal worth knowing: you can mix and match four tickets across the museum's talks programme and get the fifth one free.