The Courtauld Gallery in London is presenting an exhibition of 23 black-and-white photographs taken by Paul Laib in 1932-33, documenting the shared Hampstead studio of sculptor Barbara Hepworth and painter Ben Nicholson. The images, drawn from a larger archive of 22,000 glass-plate negatives gifted to the Courtauld in 1974, reveal the creative partnership between the two artists, who were a couple from 1931 to 1951. The show includes fourteen vintage prints and nine modern prints, curated by Chloe Nahum and Gerlind May, and runs from 6 June to 4 October.
The exhibition matters because it offers a rare glimpse into the working environment and collaborative process of two major British modernists at a pivotal moment in their careers, just before Hepworth's turn to colour. The photographs, which go beyond straightforward documentation, show how Hepworth and Nicholson actively directed the compositions, using the studio as a stage for their evolving abstract and figurative works. The show also complements the Courtauld's larger Hepworth in Colour exhibition, providing context for the artist's later chromatic explorations.