‘Sculpture is an art of the open air,’ said Henry Moore. ‘Daylight, sunlight, is necessary to it, and for me its best setting and complement is Nature.’ He would have approved, then, of the backdrop for the latest exhibition of his work: Kew Gardens.
Run in partnership with the Henry Moore Foundation, this is the largest Moore show ever held outdoors and, as the curators note in the accompanying catalogue, it reflects the essence of his practice, which embraced both open landscape and studio experimentation. ‘Many of his bronzes were conceived specifically for outdoor settings, where changing light, seasons and the elements transform our experience and affirm sculpture’s organic unity with its surroundings,’ writes Sebastiano Barassi, the Foundation’s head of Henry Moore collections & programme, who, together with Laura Bruni, curated the Kew exhibition.
Of the more than 100 sculptures on display, 30 are monumental works, which are scattered among the trees and bushes of the UNESCO World Heritage Site and inside the Temperate glasshouse. With their organic forms, they echo their botanical setting. As Moore said in 1986: ‘Not to look at and use nature in one’s own work is unnatural to me. It’s been enough inspiration for two million years — how could it ever be exhausted?’ Yet, he didn’t slavishly imitate it. Instead, as Barassi highlights in the catalogue, ‘he set out to capture and distil its essence: strength, fragility and continuous cycles of growth and decay.’
‘Not to look at and use nature in one’s own work is unnatural to me. It’s been enough inspiration for two million years — how could it ever be exhausted?’
(Image credit: Tony Evans/Timelapse Library Ltd/Getty Images)
As well as the massive sculptures that pepper the 326-acre grounds, smaller bronzes, carvings, prints and drawings, including some that have rarely been seen before, are on show in the Shirley Sherwood Gallery of Botanical Art. This display examines Moore’s process of ‘thinking through Nature’, but also considers his work in the light of current environmental concerns, the fragility of our ecosystems and the role Mankind plays in it. ‘Although rooted in the mid 20th century, Moore’s work speaks powerfully to the present, under- scoring cycles of renewal that bind human and ecological existence,’ write Barassi and Bruni.
From June, Wakehurst, Kew’s botanical garden in West Sussex, will echo the London exhibition with four sculptures by Moore and a selection of newly commissioned pieces by contemporary artists — such as Rana Begum’s No. 1604 Mesh — which are rooted in Nature and create a conversation with his work.
Also in June, more Moore will be on view, this time at the Richard Green gallery, London W1. Exploring the female form — which is the focus of much of his figurative work — the exhibition will encompass 14 maquettes he made primarily between the 1940s and the 1980s, on recurring themes, such as the Madonna and Child, family groups and reclining figures.
‘Henry Moore: The Female Form’ is at the Richard Green Gallery, London W1, from June 3–August 28
‘Henry Moore and more’ is at Wakehurst, Ardingly, West Sussex, from June 5–May 23, 2027