An art gallery in West Yorkshire is trying to raise enough funds to buy the Barbara Hepworth statue “for the country.”

Hepworth Wakefield hopes to buy sculptures in light blue and red colors created in the 1940s (elliptical form) for permanent public display.

The oval piece sold for over £3.5 million in 2024 and was later given a temporary export bar to prevent it from leaving the country - providing British galleries with the opportunity to acquire it.

Arts Fund charity has offered £750,000 to the fees, but another £2.9 million is required before the August 27 deadline.

If the goal is not met, the sculptures of the Wakefield-born artist will go to the private buyer and be taken overseas.

The appeal was supported by artists and creatives, including Sir Anthony Gormley, Anish Kapoor, Jonathan Anderson, Richard Deakin, Katie Hessel, Veronica Ryan, Joanna Scanlan and Daimchel Rachel Weldred.

This piece was one of the few wood sculptures that the artist made when he lived with his young family in St Ives, Cornwall in the 1940s.

If purchased, Hepworth said it would be the “star” in its collection.

The gallery also plans to lend it to other museums and galleries in the UK, “open access to people everywhere.

Gallery director Simon Wallis said: “We founded Hepworth Wakefield 14 years ago to celebrate, explore and build the legacy of Barbara Hepworth.

“This sculpture is a missing piece, it is a masterpiece worthy of display in the small town where Hepworth was born.”

Sir Anthony said: “Barbara Hepworth’s work remains an interaction with modernism and direct carving.

“The opportunity for the museum named after her to obtain this important work is valuable and deserves support.”

The gallery is home to the Wakefield art collection, which includes important works by Dame Barbara, but not completed works from the 1940s.

"This rare and important sculpture should be displayed in public now and for future generations in the UK," said Jenny Waldman, Director of the Art Fund.

“Every museum should have the ability to secure landmark artworks, but in today’s challenging funding atmosphere, they simply cannot compete with the prices needed for the open market.”

She added: "We appreciate Hepworth Wakefield because of their huge ambition to bring this Hepworth home."