Where can I see the work of the sculptor Henry Moore

asked Ollie...

A. As well as those listed in the answer, there is also a sculpture famous to all who watch the�TV news bulletins: the bronze that forms a backdrop to members of the House of Lords, when they are talking on the green in front�of the House to an outside braodcast, is by Henry Moore.

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Q. So, who exactly was Henry Moore

A. Born in Castleford, Yorkshire in 1898 he was Britain's most famous and successful sculptor of the twentieth century. He studied art at� Leeds College of Art and the Royal College of Art in London, before teaching sculpture both here and at the Chelsea College of Art. He died in 1986.

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Q. Did he only ever work in bronze

A. No. His early works were in wood or stone. It was only after the war, and when he had gained an international reputation, that he started working in bronze. This new medium meant that he could increase the scale of each of his works considerably.

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Q. His style is so distinctive and recognisable. What makes it so

A. You can spot a Moore at 200 paces. His works are nearly always large bronzes with strong rounded forms that you can see differently depending on where around the piece you stand.

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Q. What were his key themes

A. The internal/external idea was big with Moore. He liked to explore the relationship between the interior of an object and another object that surrounded it. Many of his works are mother and child figures with the mother's forms encircling the child within. He liked putting holes in his pieces to add what he called a 'sense of mystery.'

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When he moved to the Hertfordshire countryside in 1970 the sheep in the surrounding fields became a source of inspiration and�as a result he created Sheep Piece a large bronze in 1971-2, now at the Henry Moore Foundation at Much Hadham, Hertfordshire.

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Q. Did he ever make any pronouncements on art

A. He was quoted in a book by Grohmann called The Art of Henry Moore, saying; 'All art is abstract in once sense. Not to like abstract qualities or not to like reality is to misunderstand what art is all about. I see no reason why realistic art and purely abstract art can't exist in the world side by side at the same time, even in one artist at the same time.'

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Q. Where can you see his work now
A. Anywhere in the world you choose; London, of course, Leeds where there is a school of sculpture in his name, at The Henry Moore Foundation at Much Hadham, Herts, Manchester, Sydney, Ontario, Chicago, Hiroshima, Madrid, Hamburg, Jerusalem and New York to name but a few places with Moore sculptures on display.

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