Ten reasons why Yorkshire is the UK's capital of sculpture

We're celebrating sculpture in Yorkshire, UK. Specifically West Yorkshire - and the sculptural connections and galleries that can be discovered thirty minutes apart in Leeds and Wakefield. Read on to find out why Yorkshire can claim to be the sculpture capital of the UK. 

Henry Spencer Moore (1898-1986) was one of the most important British artists of the twentieth century and arguably the most internationally celebrated sculptor of the period. Moore was born in Castleford, a small mining town in Yorkshire, in 1898. After training to be a teacher and serving in the British Army he studied with Barbara Hepworth at Leeds School of Art and then the Royal College of Art, London. By the 1950s Moore had begun to receive a number of international commissions. He continued working in sculpture, drawing, printmaking and textile design until his death in 1986.

Dedicated to celebrating sculpture, the Henry Moore Institute welcomes everyone to experience, study and enjoy sculpture in Leeds, the city where Henry Moore began his training as a sculptor. The international research centre, located next door to Leeds Art Gallery, has a changing programme of historical, modern and contemporary exhibitions and events and presents sculpture from across the world.

Originally opened in 1888 and having recently reopened after extensive refurbishment, Leeds Art Gallery can be found next door to the Henry Moore Institute. With free entry, displays of their world-class collection alongside a changing programme of dynamic temporary exhibitions throughout the year, the gallery is one of the city’s most visited attractions.

This award-winning art gallery is set within Wakefield’s historic waterfront overlooking the River Calder. Designed by the acclaimed David Chipperfield Architects, the gallery opened in May 2011 and won Art Fund Museum of the Year 2017. Their free, public garden, designed by Tom Stuart-Smith, opened recently. Named after Barbara Hepworth, one of the most important artists of the 20th century who was born and brought up in Wakefield, the gallery presents major exhibitions of the best international modern and contemporary art and has dedicated galleries exploring Hepworth’s art and working process.

Yorkshire Sculpture Park is the leading international centre for modern and contemporary sculpture, set within the 500-acre, 18th-century Bretton Hall estate in West Yorkshire. Founded in 1977, YSP was the first sculpture park in the UK, and is the largest of its kind in Europe, providing the only place in Europe to see Barbara Hepworth’s The Family of Man in its entirety alongside a significant collection of sculpture, including bronzes by Henry Moore, and site-specific works by Andy Goldsworthy, David Nash and James Turrell.  YSP was named Art Fund Museum of the Year in 2014 and celebrated its 40th birthday in 2017.

Yorkshire plays host to some very impressive sculpture  collections. Leeds Art Gallery has one of the most significant collections of 20th century British art outside London. The Hepworth Wakefield houses Wakefield's art collection, which consists of more thank 5000 works and galleries dedicated to the work of Barbara Hepworth.

In summer 2019, the Henry Moore Institute, Leeds Art Gallery, The Hepworth Wakefield and Yorkshire Sculpture Park presented the first Yorkshire Sculpture International – the UK’s largest dedicated sculpture festival, a series of exhibitions, international commissions, events and learning programmes not seen on a scale anywhere else – with sculpture in its broadest forms on display across the four galleries and outdoors in Leeds and Wakefield. 

It is hoped Yorkshire Sculpture International will become a regularly occurring festival, with partners already discussing long-term plans for future sculpture events in Leeds and Wakefield. Some elements of the festival are still on display in Yorkshire and with the galleries open all year round, sculpture lovers have so many reasons to make Yorkshire their next holiday destination.