The Hepworth Wakefield acquires a seminal Sarah Lucas
27 Jul 2026
We are delighted to announce the acquisition of Sarah Lucas, Nude No. 2 (1999), through the Contemporary Art Society’s Special Partnership with the Henry Moore Foundation, supported by Cathy Wills, and generously enabled by the artist and Sadie Coles.
Since 2018, The Hepworth Wakefield has been the beneficiary of a biannual acquisition enabled through the impactful philanthropic partnership between The Contemporary Art Society (CAS) and the Henry Moore Foundation, supported by Cathy Wills. The partnership was established to donate significant works of contemporary sculpture to the public collections at The Hepworth Wakefield and Leeds Art Gallery.
Every year a major work by a living artist working in sculpture is donated alternately to one of the two Yorkshire-based galleries. This year, The Hepworth Wakefield is delighted to announce that the acquisition of Nude No. 2 (1999) by influential British artist Sarah Lucas (b. 1962) was made possible through the partnership, with support from the artist and Sadie Coles.
Nude No. 2 exemplifies Lucas’ approach to challenging societal norms around gender, sexuality, and the human body. The acquisition addresses an absence in the collection of British work made in the 1990s, enabling us to better represent the significance of the Young British Artists movement to British sculpture.
The work is currently on display until March 2027 in the exhibition, Rhythm, Dance and Everything: The Body and Performance from Hepworth to Now, alongside another recent acquisition enabled through the partnership: Tau Lewis’ Lilith (2024).
The two acquisitions join the group of impressive contemporary sculptures that the partnership has enabled The Hepworth Wakefield to acquire since 2018, including works by Magali Reus, Stephen Claydon, Michael Dean and Veronica Ryan. You can read more about the works acquired through this fund on our dedicated page.
‘Nude No.2 is a major work by Sarah Lucas from the moment when she was establishing a distinctive and radical voice in her sculptural practice. The work is emblematic of the 90s moment in feminist discourse, which Lucas met with humour and a certain swagger. It gives us huge pleasure to see the sculpture join the collection in Wakefield. Sarah Lucas is one of the most important artists of her generation and it’s wholly fitting to see her recognised in the lineage of the great sculptors this country has produced.’ Caroline Douglas, Director, Contemporary Art Society
‘The Henry Moore Foundation is proud to support this longstanding partnership with the Contemporary Art Society, which continues to strengthen public collections and ensure that outstanding works of contemporary sculpture are accessible to everyone. Sarah Lucas is one of Britain’s most influential artists, whose work has fundamentally reshaped conversations around sculpture, the body and identity. We are delighted that Nude No. 2 has joined The Hepworth Wakefield’s collection, where it will inspire audiences for generations to come while enriching the story of modern and contemporary sculpture in Yorkshire.’ Godfrey Worsdale OBE, Director, Henry Moore Foundation
‘Being a long-time collector and supporter of contemporary sculpture I was delighted to work with CAS and institutions across the north of England who have excellent collections of historic sculpture but needed to reflect current artistic developments. Nude No.2 is the 19th acquisition supported by this special project fund, and Sarah Lucas was always an artist we wanted to acquire, this moment marks a pinnacle in the work that we do. This work joins a group of formidable women artists the fund has supported including Phyllida Barlow, Helen Marten, Magali Reus, Emii Alrai, Ro Robertson, Veronica Ryan, Dominique White, and Tau Lewis.’ Cathy Wills
‘Regular acquisition gifts such as this partnership are rare and so valuable as we have no budget to develop the collection and rely on philanthropy to do so. We are so delighted to have secured this outstanding work by Sarah Lucas for Wakefield’s art collection – it is at once humorous and provocative, using everyday objects to offer a critique of the objectification of women’s bodies and the absurd way that women are often represented in popular culture and art history. Lucas is one of the key figures of the Young British Artists (YBA) movement from the 1990s and 2000s and until now, we have had no works by any of this influential group of artists in Wakefield’s art collection, so this acquisition fills a significant gap.’ Laura Smith, Artistic Director, The Hepworth Wakefield
