Barbara Hepworth the Castle Inn; nineteen artists were founding members, including Peter Lanyon and Bernard Leach. Hepworth was also a skilled draughtsman. After her daughter Sarah was hospitalised in 1944, she struck up a close friendship with the surgeon Norman Capener. At Capener's invitation, she was invited to view surgical procedures and, between 1947–1949, she produced nearly eighty drawings of operating rooms in chalk, ink, and pencil. Hepworth was fascinated by the similarities between surgeons and artists, stating: "There is, it seems to me, a close affinity between the work and approach of both physicians and surgeons, and painters and sculptors." In
Dorothy Hepworth continued to live together after the wedding, and after Preece gained control of Spencer's finances they evicted him from his house in 1938 to rent it out. Preece refused to divorce her hapless husband. It is believed that many, if not all, of the much-accoladed paintings of Preece were created by Hepworth. Preece attributed the paintings to herself, with the consent of Hepworth, who was shy and preferred not to appear in public. Hepworth's work attributed to Preece was exhibited at the Royal Academy of Arts, the Dorothy Warrne Gallery, and the Lefevre Gallery. Some of the paintings were purchased