Henry Moore

Henry Moore – A scholarship enabled the study of art against the parents’ wishes

Henry Moore was born in Castleford in Yorkshire on 30 July 1898. The seventh of eight children of a miner, he grew up in modest circumstances, but received a good education on the wishes of his parents. At the age of eleven, Henry Moore already knew that he wanted to be a sculptor, forming models out of clay and wood under the encouragement of his art teacher. His parents, however, were not so pleased about this choice of career. Barely 18, he was summoned for military duty and took part in the Battle of Cambrai. Despite being injured, Moore later admitted that he coped with the events of the war well –in a youthful romantic daze, he had tried to be a hero. His war service earned him a scholarship that enabled him to pursue his desired study of sculpture – however, his school was only set up for painting and a suitable studio had first to be arranged. During his studies, Henry Moore met the sculptor Barbara Hepworth with whom he remained good friends for many years.

Study trip to Italy; teacher in London; growing prominence

With the help of a scholarship, Henry Moore went to London to attend the Royal College of art. There he admired the sculptures of Egyptian, Mexican and Oceanic artists exhibited in the British Museum, adapting their block-like, monumental language of form for his own work. The work of Constantin Brâncusi also confirmed Moore’s impulse to move away from the academic standards of sculpture and to go his own way. Once again supported by a scholarship, he undertook a study trip to Italy where he studied the art of the Italian masters, namely Giotto and Michelangelo. Michelangelo in particular was later named by Moore as an important model. In London he began to give art lessons, leaving enough time for his artistic activities. In 1929 he married the art student Irina Radetsky who soon became Moore’s preferred model. The exchange of ideas with artists such as Barbara Hepworth, her husband Ben Nicholson as well as Naum Gabo were of great importance to Moore, whilst the art critic Herbert Read contributed to Henry Moore’s growing fame through his publications. 

Striking war drawings brought international fame

Henry Moore oriented himself ever stronger to abstraction, exchanged ideas on his trip to Paris with Hans Arp, Georges Braque, Alberto Giacometti and Pablo Picasso, and engaged himself with Surrealism. During the Second World War, Moore worked as an official War Artist and created stirring drawn depictions of the air raids on London. This part of his work in particular helped his popularity grow in the USA. Henry Moore received prizes and awards for his work, but he declined the offer of a peerage. He died on 31 August 1986 in Much Hadham in Hertfordshire. Around 20 years after his death, his sculpture Reclining Figure made the headlines when, despite active camera surveillance, it was stolen from the grounds of the Henry Moore Foundation in Perry Green. Scotland Yard believes that the artwork was melted down and the material sold – a bad deal for the thieves as the material value of 7500 euro is in stark contrast to the estimated price of 4.4 million euro for the intact work of art. The sculpture has still not been found.