Henry Moore: Shadows on the Wall

8 Jun-22 Sep 2024

Overview

Shadows on the Wall considers Henry Moore’s (1898 – 1986) celebrated Shelter drawings as the point of departure for a new reading of the artist’s fascination with images of the wall, during and immediately after World War II. From the London Underground, where Moore drew figures sheltering from the bomb raids, the walls of these spaces came to absorb his attention in an altogether new way, becoming scene-setters, and key components of his drawings. This fascination with the bricks and the presence of walls, their texture, mass and volume, became especially important following Moore’s project to illustrate the wartime radio play The Rescue, based on Homer’s Odyssey.

This exhibition suggests for the first time that the walls in his drawings offer a new way to understand some of his most distinctive and monumental Post-War sculpture projects. The exhibition was conceived by Penelope Curtis and organised in collaboration with the Henry Moore Foundation.

The programme of displays in the Gilbert and Ildiko Butler Drawings Gallery is generously supported by the International Music and Art Foundation, with additional support from James Bartos.

Artists