1898-1986
Henry Moore was one of the greatest sculptors, draughtsmen and printmakers of the twentieth century. He is best known for his carved marble and larger scale semi-abstract monumental bronze sculptures. He was instrumental in introducing a particular form of modernism to the United Kingdom.
His forms are usually abstractions of the human figure, typically depicting mother and child or reclining figures. Moore's works are usually suggestive of the female body, apart from a phase in the 1950s when he sculpted family groups. His forms are generally pierced or contain hollow spaces. The undulating form of his reclining figures can be likened to the landscape and hills of his birthplace, Yorkshire.
He established the Henry Moore Foundation in 1977, which continues to support education and promotion of the arts today.
`Henry Moore
1898
Born in Castleford Yorkshire, England
1919
Enrolled at Leeds School of Art
1921 - 1924
Royal College of Art in London
1924
Won travelling scholarship and went to Italy for six months
1928 - 1929
Received commission for first public sculpture: a figure on St James's Park underground station in London
1925 - 1932
Taught sculpture at the Royal College of Art
1936
Participated in the International Surrealist exhibition in London
1932 - 1939
Taught sculpture at the Chelsea School of Art
1955
Made a Companion of Honour
1941 - 1956
Trustee of the Tate Gallery
1956
Trustee of the National Gallery
1957
Commission for the UNESCO building in Paris
1962
Commission for Knife Edge Two Pieces, for College Green, opposite the Houses of Parliament in London
1963
Received the Order of Merit
1967
Commission for Nuclear Energy for the University of Chicago
1986
Died in Much Hadham, Herfordshire, England
Selected Exhibitions
2008 - 2009
Henry Moore and the Challenge of Architecture, Didrichsen Museum, Helsinki, Iceland
Mother and Child: Henry Moore's West Dean Tapestries, Figge Art Musuem, Davenport, Iowa, USA
Moore in Ameirca, New York Botanical Garden, NY, USA
Henry Moore Textiles, Dovecot Studios, Edinburgh, Scotland
2008
Henry Moore Imaginary Landscapes, Haus am Wladsee, Berlin, Germany
Henry Moore: Skulpturen im Blickpunkt, Stadtische Kunsthalle Mannheim, Mannheim, Germany
2007 - 2008
Moore and Mythology, Musée Bourdelle, Paris, France
Henry Moore: Master Printmaker - A Major Tour of Russia
2007
Moore at Kew, Royal Botantic Gardenks, UK
Good Form: The Goldschmidt Collection of (small scale) Sculpture, Scottsdale museum of Contemporary Art - SMoCA, Phoenix, AZ, USA
2006 - 2007
Henry Moore: Natural Form, Tate Liverpool, Liverpool
Henry Moore: War and Utility, Imperial War Museum, London
Henry Moore and the Challenge of Architecture, Kunsthal, Rotterdam
Power and Taboo: Sacred Objects from the Pacific, British Museum, London
2006
Henry Moore (retrospective), CaixaForum, Barcelona, Spain
Classics, Sara Hilden Art Museum, Tampere, Finland
2005
Dimensions, Winston Wachter Fine Art - New York, New York City, NY
Henry Moore: A Retrospective, Sao Paulo, Rio, Brasilia, Brasil
2004
Cubism and its Legacy - The Gift of Gustav and Elly Kahnweiler, Tate Liverpool, Liverpool
2001 - 2002
Henry Moore, National Gallery of Art, Washington, DC, USA
2000 - 2001
Moore in China, Beijing, Guangzhou, Shanghai, China
Selected Collections
Guggenheim Collection, Venice
Museum of Modern Art, New York
Tate Collection, London
Selected Publications
Andrews, J., London's War: The Shelter Drawings of Henry Moore, Lund Humphries, 2002
Berthoud, R., The Life of Henry Moore, Giles de la Mare Publishers, 2nd edition, 2003
Clark, K., & Moore, H., (illustrator), Henry Moore's Sheep Sketchbook, Thames & Hudson, 2003
Feldman, A., (ed.) Henry Moore: Textiles, Lund Humphries, 2008
Henry Moore at Kew, Henry Moore Foundation, 2007
Kosinski, D., (ed.) Henry Moore: Sculpting the Twentieth Century, Yale University Press, 2001
Lichtenstern, C., Henry Moore: Work - Theory - Impact, Royal Academy of Arts, 2008
Mitchinson, D., Celebrating Moore: Works from the Collection of the Henry Moore Fondation, Lund Humphries, 2006
Mitchinson, D., (ed.), Hoglands: The Home of Henry and Irina Moore, Lund Humphries, 2007
Wilkinson, A., (ed.), Henry Moore: Writings and Conversations (Documents of Twentieth-Century Art), University of California Press, 2002