A rare Barbara Hepworth sculpture will go on show in her hometown after it was successfully saved for the UK by a $5.1 million fundraising campaign.
The 1943 work, called Sculpture with Colour (Oval Form) Pale Blue and Red, is an early example of her use of strings with painted wood.
It was sold to an anonymous bidder at Christie’s a year ago but placed under a government-issued temporary export ban to allow time for funds to be raised to keep it in the UK.
The campaign, supported by more 2,800 members of the public as well as major grants from different foundations and charities, raised the money with a week to spare and the sculpture will now go on show at the Hepworth Wakefield in northern England.