Barbara Hepworth, an artist whose work conjures up pound signs when it appears on Antiques Roadshow, is the subject of a new exhibition looking at a lesser-known aspect of her monochrome work.

Colour.

Not bright, exuberant colour, admittedly, but enough to challenge the familiar perception of Hepworth’s sculpture as predominantly white or monochrome.

For the first time, the exhibition brings together Hepworth’s early coloured sculptures from the 1940s, displaying them alongside some of her most important drawings from the same decade. It also includes significant examples of her colour work from the 1950s and 1960s, charting how she incorporated carefully chosen hues into her sculptural practice.

The colours are generally soft and muted, applied in broad blocks rather than intricate detail. Their effect is surprisingly powerful. Rather than distracting from the forms, they emphasise curves, hollows and surfaces, while making the untouched white areas stand out even more strongly.

Perhaps accidentally topical, one sculpture even resembles a football that’s being unfurled.

Another, rather mischievously, brought to mind the giant sandworms from Dune.

Alongside the sculptures is a selection of Hepworth’s paintings and drawings. At times, they resemble architectural studies or working plans for the nearby three-dimensional pieces, creating a contrast between the 2D works on the walls and the 3D works occupying the centre of the galleries.

Although the exhibition’s theme is colour, Hepworth uses her palette so sparingly that the most colourful object on display turns out to be her own paint palette, displayed as an exhibit in its own right.

Spread across two rooms, the exhibition includes around 20 sculptures in plaster, wood and stone, alongside some 30 drawings. It’s a compact show, but one that offers a fresh perspective on an artist whose work many visitors may think they already know.

The exhibition, Hepworth in Colour, is at the Courtauld Institute of Art in central London until 6th September 2026.

• Standard Ticket: £18
• Concessions: £8
• 18 and under: Free
• National Art Pass: £9

Tickets and details here.

There is also a complementary exhibition in the gallery, looking at her time in Hampstead when she lived with Ben Nicholson.