Henry Moore
Great art
is not perfect. […] Perfectionist art does not move me.
Henry Moore 1957
Henry Moore (1898–1986) is seen today as one of the most important English sculptors of the 20th century. His early work from the 1920s and 1930s was initially controversial, as the distortions and simplifications of the human figure were seen as an attack on traditional forms of representation.
Moore continued his
liberation of the figure from the classical tradition. His engagement with
so-called ‘primitive’ art as well as with contemporary sculptural forms of
expression were of great importance to Moore’s development. He regularly
visited the British Museum in London, where he devoted intense study to
non-European art. In Paris he also made contact with the avant-garde – with
Constantin Brancusi and Pablo Picasso, among others.
In the
1930s Moore increasingly developed abstract biomorphic forms. He based these on
his collection of bones, shells and stones, in which he was able to study
natural metamorphosis – growth, wear, change. His artistic goal was to create
living forms as nature does. For that reason he emphasized the direct treatment
of the material – stone or wood. Only later did he also have his sculptures
cast in metal. Moore became one of the protagonists of the London art scene. He
expressed himself in several essays about his own work, and assumed an
autonomous position. At the same time, he refused to allow himself to be
entirely co-opted by contemporary art movements, either by Surrealism or
geometrical abstraction.
During the
Second World War Moore fled the air raids on London for the countryside, where
he lived until his death. During that time he produced only a few sculptures,
but captured the situation of people seeking refuge in the London Underground
in numerous drawings. In the post-war era Moore increasingly had the
opportunity to show his works abroad. He also realized large numbers of
commissions for art in the public space. His sculptural work was concentrated,
as it had been before the war, on the depiction of the human figure. Now he was
criticised by younger artists, because clinging to figuration was considered
too traditionalist. Whether Moore was making abstract or figurative sculptures,
he was always concerned with developing a universal pictorial language out of
elemental forms.
In his late work above all he produced an extensive body of over 700 lithographs. This shift from sculpture to printed work may also have had something to do with the ageing artist’s declining manpower. With his printed works Moore created a new artistic space for himself far from his sculptural works.
The exhibition shows with 28 sculptures and 42 works on paper from the collections of the Tate and the British Council for the first time in 25 years in Switzerland an overview of the work of one of the greatest sculptors of the 20th century.
