We had a splendid day today with Jo and Mark. Jo drove us all out to The Hepworth Wakefield in West Yorkshire, taking the scenic route over the moor. (The Hepworth Wakefield was the museum I called accidentally when we were in St. Ives when I was trying to reach the Hepworth Museum there.) Since we weren't able to visit that museum last week because we couldn't find a place to park in St. Ives, Jo offered to take us to Wakefield, which is about 50 miles from Manchester. It was a bit rainy off and on, so perfect for a museum day. (Our other option was the Yorkshire Sculpture Park, not a perfect day for that.) The HW is a contemporary art museum that only opened five years ago and was named for Barbara Hepworth who was born in the city of Wakefield. The building is rather striking, and is in a pretty setting on the River Calder.

Note the two fly fishermen in the bottom right.

Today was a special "Market Day" on the grounds, with food and craft stalls. We walked through quickly before going inside.

One of the first things we saw inside were three large drawings by David Hockney. I had just read that he was now doing plein air drawings on an iPad these days, and here were three excellent examples. The colors and light are beautiful.

There were some beautiful Henry Moore sculptures.

And of course some Barbara Hepworth sculptures.

And this beautiful piece, Bird, is by an artist unknown to me, Ovidiu Maitec.  This was from an exhibition Kettle's Yard at The Hepworth Wakefield. Kettle's Yard, I learned, "was a series of cottages converted into a Modernist home by Jim Ede, a notable collector of modern British art." It is now a Cambridge gallery, but while that gallery is closed for renovation the Hepworth has the collection. The artists represented include Constantin Brancusi, Georges Braque, Barbara Hepworth, Joan Miro, and Ben Nicholson (quickly becoming one of my favorites).

Another new artist for me was Alfred Wallis. who didn't start painting until the age of 70 when he lived in St. Ives. He painted in the naive style, on pieces of cardboard and using a limited palette. The Hepworth had a lot of his work on display. I didn't take any photos.

One of the galleries was The Hepworth Family Gift, a collection of her working models for her bronze sculptures, mostly of plaster. It was interesting to see the process of creating her work, and I also loved the photographs taken of her in her studio.

But the main exhibition was Stanley Spencer: Of Angels and Dirt.  Spencer is yet another artist unknown to me but well known throughout Britain. This was a show that spanned his whole career. The first room was all self-portraits done at different periods in his life. Another room showcased his landscapes and portraits of other people. He was influenced by early Italian paintings, and he recreated Biblical scenes set in contemporary times. I loved this one, The Last Supper.  

A couple of his large shipbuilding pieces reminded me of Diego Rivera's Detroit Industry frescoes.

And last but not least, there was a gallery highlighting part of a large, private collection that was recently bequested to the museum by Tim Sayer, after he and his wife came up from London for a visit. This collection includes works by Alexander Calder, Henry Moore, Louise Bourgeois, David Hockney, Sol LeWitt, Bridget Riley, and Prunella Clough. Read more about it here.

Jo had made dinner reservations at The 3 Acres, near Huddersfield, where we had a very nice, and very filling, dinner before heading back to Manchester. It was a beautiful setting.