One of her most prestigious works was "Single Form" (1961-1964), a memorial to the UN Secretary General Dag Hammarskjöld, at the United Nations building at New York City.
She was married to the sculptor John Skeaping (1901-1980), then the painter Ben Nicholson.
Her home in St Ives, Cornwall is now the Barbara Hepworth Museum. This is where she died in a fire in her studio.
As well as St Ives her work can be seen at the Yorkshire Sculpture Park at West Bretton, West Yorkshire, and at Churchill College, Cambridge.