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23 February – 15 April 2012
This exhibition examines all the works of Henry Moore (1898-1986) which are included in the Arts Council Collection. His representation within that Collection is very strong, with sculptures and works on paper spanning five decades.
The first work by Moore to be acquired by the Arts Council was a drawing, Seated Figure (c.1933), purchased in 1948. Other purchases soon followed. Seen together the works on display present the development of Henry Moore’s practice between 1927 and 1962. Many of the works show Moore’s investigation of human and organic forms towards a point of abstraction. Elsewhere, Moore’s contribution to public sculpture can be seen in various models for larger outdoor commissions. Although this creative journey is important, each piece can be appreciated for its expressiveness, craftsmanship and unique formal qualities, for as Moore himself once noted, ‘the sensitive observer of sculpture must learn to feel shape simply as shape’.
Henry Moore was a key figure in the formation of the Arts Council Collection. He was an important advisor to the acquisitions committee during the early 1950s, shaping the sculpture collection by advocating the acquisition of a significant group of post-war British sculpture by artists including Kenneth Armitage, Lynn Chadwick and Barbara Hepworth.
A Hayward Touring exhibition from the Arts Council Collection, on behalf of Southbank Centre, London.
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