Who was Barbara Hepworth? Google Doodle celebrates English abstract sculptor

BARBARA Hepworth's life is being celebrated by today's Google Doodle.

The English abstract sculptor was known and widely considered as one of the mid-20th century’s most impactful sculptors.

Who was Barbara Hepworth?

Today’s Google Doodle celebrates the life and work of English abstract sculptor Dame Barbara Hepworth.

Jocelyn Barbara Hepworth was born on January 10th, 1903 in Wakefield, West Yorkshire, England.

By the age of 15, she knew she wanted to become a sculptor.

She enrolled at the Leeds School of Art, where she sparked a friendship with fellow sculptor Henry Moore, and then attended the Royal College of Art in London.

Her early work featured classic elements but by the 1930s she was solely doing abstract pieces.

These were among the earliest sculptures crafted in Britain.

On August 25 1939, Ms Hepworth arrived a town on England’s southern coast called St. Ives where she created her studio and lived for the remainder of her career.

As shown in today’s Google Doodle, Ms Hepworth was one of the leading practitioners of “direct carving,” a technique which the sculpting process is influenced by the qualities of the raw materials.

Among her many accomplishments, Ms Hepworth was awarded the Grand Prix at the 1959 São Paulo Bienal, and for her invaluable contribution to British art was named Dame Commander of the Order of the British Empire in 1965.

Hepworth created over 600 sculptures.

Google said: "Thank you, Dame Barbara Hepworth, for using your art to help carve a path toward greater harmony within our society and environment."

What is a Google Doodle?

In 1998, the search engine founders Larry and Sergey drew a stick figure behind the second "o" of Google as a message that they were out of office at the Burning Man festival and with that, Google Doodles were born.

The company decided that they should decorate the logo to mark cultural moments and it soon became clear that users really enjoyed the change to the Google homepage.

Now, there is a full team of doodlers, illustrators, graphic designers, animators and classically trained artists who help create what you see on those days.

Google kicked off 2019 with an animated Doodle of New Year's Eve celebrations.

In 2020, Doodles have been created to celebrate essential workers, such as teachers, transport workers and NHS staff, during the coronavirus pandemic.

Google also resurrected a series of interactive games to entertain people during lockdown.

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