The Palais de Danse is a former

cinema Cinema may refer to: Film * Cinematography, the art of motion-picture photography * Film or movie, a series of still images that create the illusion of a moving image ** Film industry, the technological and commercial institutions of filmmaking * ...

dance hall Dance hall in its general meaning is a hall for Dance, dancing. From the earliest years of the twentieth century until the early 1960s, the dance hall was the popular forerunner of the discothèque or nightclub. The majority of towns and citi ...

ballet school Ballet () is a type of performance dance that originated during the Italian Renaissance in the fifteenth century and later developed into a concert dance form in France and Russia. It has since become a widespread and highly technical form of ...

and

auction house An auction is usually a process of buying and selling goods or services by offering them up for bids, taking bids, and then selling the item to the highest bidder or buying the item from the lowest bidder. Some exceptions to this definition ex ...

St Ives, Cornwall St Ives ( kw, Porth Ia, meaning "Ia of Cornwall, St Ia's cove") is a seaside town, civil parish and port in Cornwall, England. The town lies north of Penzance and west of Camborne on the coast of the Celtic Sea. In former times it was commerci ...

which was a studio for sculptor and artist

Barbara Hepworth Dame Jocelyn Barbara Hepworth (10 January 1903 – 20 May 1975) was an English artist and sculptor. Her work exemplifies Modernism and in particular modern sculpture. Along with artists such as Ben Nicholson and Naum Gabo, Hepworth was a leadi ...

from 1961 until her death in 1975. After her death, the Palais was kept by her family until it was donated to

Tate Tate is an institution that houses, in a network of four art galleries, the United Kingdom's national collection of British art, and international modern and contemporary art. It is not a government institution, but its main sponsor is the U ...

in 2015. In 2020,

Historic England Historic England (officially the Historic Buildings and Monuments Commission for England) is an executive non-departmental public body of the British Government sponsored by the Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport. It is tasked wit ...

designated it a

Grade II listed building In the United Kingdom, a listed building or listed structure is one that has been placed on one of the four statutory lists maintained by Historic England in England, Historic Environment Scotland in Scotland, in Wales, and the Northern Irel ...

Early uses

The property was originally an 18th-century stone cottage and part of the premises was used as a navigation school run by a cousin of

John T. Short John Tregerthen Short (27 July 1858 – 26 January 1933), often and incorrectly referred to as John Thomas Short, was commissioner for West Australian Railways 1908–1919. Biography Short was born in St Ives, Cornwall, which he left for a life a ...

in the early 19th century. It was bought by

Sir Christopher Hawkins Sir Christopher Hawkins, 1st Baronet FRS (29 May 1758 – 6 April 1829) was a Cornish landowner, mine-owner, Tory Member of Parliament, and patron of steam power. He was Recorder of Grampound, of Tregony, and of St Ives, Cornwall. The Hawkins ...

in 1819 and by William Pole-Tylney-Long-Wellesley in 1834. The navigation school continued until at least 1893, and by the beginning of the 20th century most of the buildings on the site were falling into disrepair. In 1910, the site was redeveloped and turned into St Ives's first cinema, called The Picturedrome, which opened on 28 June 1911. It was converted into a dance hall in 1925 (when it first became known as the Palais de Danse) and from 1939 was also used for auctions, concerts and, during the

Second World War World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

, a ballet school taught by

Phyllis Bedells Phyllis Bedells (9 August 1893 – 2 May 1985) was a British ballerina and dance teacher. Early life Ethel Phyllis Bedells was born in Knowle, Bristol. Her father was a clerk for the Bristol Gas Company; both parents were musical. Her fat ...

. Hepworth bought Trewyn Studio at an auction at the Palais on 16 September 1949 "in face of terrific competition" in the words of

Ben Nicholson Benjamin Lauder Nicholson, Order of Merit, OM (10 April 1894 – 6 February 1982) was an English painter of abstract art, abstract compositions (sometimes in low relief), landscape and still-life. Background and training Nicholson was ...

. She bought it for £2,850 and, including fees, the total cost was just over £3,000. To make up the money, Hepworth had taken out a mortgage for £1,200, secured a loan on Nicholson's life insurance, and got money from her friends Helen Sutherland,

Marcus Brumwell John Robert Marcus Brumwell (20 April 1901 – January 1983) was a British advertising pioneer, designer, businessman, political activist, and art collector. Advertising Marcus joined H. Stuart Menzies's small advertising agency, Stuart Advert ...

, and Cyril Reddihough. The building would continue to be used for dances up until 1961, with Hepworth herself frequently dancing there on what was said to be the South West's best-sprung dance floor.

As Hepworth's studio

By the time that the Palais came up for sale at the end of 1960, Hepworth had been looking for a space to work on her larger public commissions and had even been considering leaving St Ives. During her work on ''

Meridian Meridian or a meridian line (from Latin ''meridies'' via Old French ''meridiane'', meaning “midday”) may refer to Science * Meridian (astronomy), imaginary circle in a plane perpendicular to the planes of the celestial equator and horizon * ...

'' between 1958 and 1960, she had had to rent the upstairs of 18 Fore Street from the constituency Labour Party because her studio at Trewyn was not large enough. At long, the Palais was much larger than her studio at Trewyn; she bought the building on 25 February 1961 for £10,000, almost immediately beginning work on ''

Winged Figure ''Winged Figure'' (BH 315) is a 1963 sculpture by British artist Barbara Hepworth. One of Hepworth's best known works, it has been displayed in London since April 1963, on Holles Street near the junction with Oxford Street, mounted on the sout ...

'', a May 1961 commission for

John Lewis John Robert Lewis (February 21, 1940 – July 17, 2020) was an American politician and civil rights activist who served in the United States House of Representatives for from 1987 until his death in 2020. He participated in the 1960 Nashville ...

Oxford Street Oxford Street is a major road in the City of Westminster in the West End of London, running from Tottenham Court Road to Marble Arch via Oxford Circus. It is Europe's busiest shopping street, with around half a million daily visitors, and as ...

store. After ''Winged Figure'', Hepworth started work on ''

Single Form ''Single Form'' (BH 325) is a monumental bronze sculpture by the British artist Barbara Hepworth. It is her largest work, and one of her most prominent public commissions, displayed since 1964 in a circular water feature that forms a traffic ...

'', a commission for a memorial to

Dag Hammarskjöld Dag Hjalmar Agne Carl Hammarskjöld ( , ; 29 July 1905 – 18 September 1961) was a Swedish economist and diplomat who served as the second Secretary-General of the United Nations from April 1953 until his death in a plane crash in September 196 ...

outside the

United Nations headquarters The United Nations is headquartered in Midtown Manhattan, New York City, United States, and the complex has served as the official headquarters of the United Nations since its completion in 1951. It is in the Turtle Bay, Manhattan, Turtle Bay neig ...

New York New York most commonly refers to: * New York City, the most populous city in the United States, located in the state of New York * New York (state), a state in the northeastern United States New York may also refer to: Film and television * '' ...

. It was her largest ever sculpture at tall, and had to be laid on the floor of the upper workshop in the Palais in order for Hepworth to work on it. To help with scaling up from the

maquette A ''maquette'' (French word for scale model, sometimes referred to by the Italian names ''plastico'' or ''modello'') is a scale model or rough draft of an unfinished sculpture. An equivalent term is ''bozzetto'', from the Italian word for "sketc ...

(called ''Single Form (Memorial)''), Hepworth enlisted the help of her son Simon Nicholson and used a chequered grid of squares. The grid and outline of ''Single Form'' still survive on the workshop's floor. Other sculptures that were created in the Palais include ''Construction (Crucifixion)'', ''Theme and Variations'', ''Squares with Two Circles'' and '' Four-Square (Walk Through)''. Hepworth kept several parts of the dance hall, including the stage, but installed a sliding door inlaid with

fibreglass Fiberglass (American English) or fibreglass (Commonwealth English) is a common type of fiber-reinforced plastic using glass fiber. The fibers may be randomly arranged, flattened into a sheet called a chopped strand mat, or woven into glass clo ...

and resin which allowed diffused light in from the next room which overlooked the sea. The large mirror on one wall of the Palais "encouraged an awareness of movement", and Hepworth would often put her sculptures on wheeled plinths to 'dance' them around the studio space. After she broke her

femur The femur (; ), or thigh bone, is the proximal bone of the hindlimb in tetrapod vertebrates. The head of the femur articulates with the acetabulum in the pelvic bone forming the hip joint, while the distal part of the femur articulates with ...

in 1967, Hepworth suffered from much more restricted mobility and was not able to use the Palais very much herself, doing most of her work back at Trewyn. From then until her death, the studio was mainly used as a display space and as workshops for Hepworth's assistants.

After Hepworth's death

After Hepworth's death on 20 May 1975, the Palais was kept essentially as she had left it by her family. When Trewyn was opened as the

Barbara Hepworth Museum The Barbara Hepworth Museum and Sculpture Garden in St Ives, Cornwall preserves the 20th-century sculptor Barbara Hepworth's studio and garden much as they were when she lived and worked there. She purchased the site in 1949 and lived and work ...

in 1976, the Palais was unsuitable for public access and was used as a storeroom and a workshop space which was shared with

. All of Hepworth's prototypes and plasters were stored there, and sometimes displayed on the dance floor, until they were donated to

The Hepworth Wakefield The Hepworth Wakefield is an art museum in Wakefield, West Yorkshire, England, which opened on 21 May 2011. The gallery is situated on the south side of the River Calder and takes its name from artist and sculptor Barbara Hepworth who was born an ...

in 2011. In 2015, the Palais was donated to Tate who indicated their intention to restore it and open it to the public. The building along with a southern boundary wall was designated

Grade II listed In the United Kingdom, a listed building or listed structure is one that has been placed on one of the four statutory lists maintained by Historic England in England, Historic Environment Scotland in Scotland, in Wales, and the Northern Irel ...

and the

Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport , type = Department , logo = Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport logo.svg , logo_width = , logo_caption = , seal = , seal_width = , seal_caption = , picture = Gove ...

on 29 April 2020.

Heritage minister A culture minister or a heritage minister is a common cabinet position in governments. The culture minister is typically responsible for cultural policy, which often includes arts policy (direct and indirect support to artists and arts organizatio ...

Nigel Huddleston Nigel Paul Huddleston (born 13 October 1970) is a British politician serving as Lord Commissioner of the Treasury since September 2022 and as Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for International Trade since October 2022. He served as Parliame ...

said the listing was a "fitting tribute" to Hepworth "to preserve the unique site where she created some of her most famous works". In 2023, Tate announced a competition to restore and "reinvigorate" the building, with a completion date of 2026.

Use by other artists

Between 1998 and 2000, sculptor

Veronica Ryan Veronica Maudlyn Ryan (born 1956 in Plymouth, Montserrat) is a Montserrat-born British sculptor. She moved to London with her parents when she was an infant and now lives between New York and Bristol. In December 2022, Ryan won the Turner Prize ...

undertook an artist's residency at the Palais, creating new works of art from some of Hepworth's unused marble. Ryan said she was anxious to not copy Hepworth's work, but found the Palais a "good environment in which to concentrate", describing Hepworth as a "friendly muse" and taking inspiration from her tools and materials. Two of the sculptures Ryan made, ''Quoit Montserrat'' and ''Mango Reliquary'', are owned by Tate. In 2015,

Charlotte Moth Charlotte Moth (born 1978 in Carshalton) is a British artist who uses principally the mediums of photography, video and sculpture, often using these works to create sculptural or architectural installations. She lives and works in Paris. Work ...

photographed and filmed the studio's main hall for her

Tate Britain Tate Britain, known from 1897 to 1932 as the National Gallery of British Art and from 1932 to 2000 as the Tate Gallery, is an art museum on Millbank in the City of Westminster in London, England. It is part of the Tate network of galleries in ...

display ''Choreography of the Image''.

References

{{Portal bar, Cornwall, Visual arts Tate galleries Buildings and structures in St Ives, Cornwall Grade II listed buildings in Cornwall Artists' studios in the United Kingdom Former cinemas in England Dance venues in England Ballet schools in the United Kingdom Arts in St Ives, Cornwall