Henry Moore: 6 questions
Widely recognized for his semi abstract bronze sculptures, displayed in public places around the world, Henry Moore won the position of “father” of modern British sculpture. Influenced by Alassical and African art and by Surrealism, the Anglo-Irish artist explored yet different techniques and mediums.
On the anniversary of the winner of International Prize for Sculpture (1948 Venice Biennale), we challenge you to test your knowledge on the work of the artist who changed the perception of production of large-scale works of art.
Questions: True or False
1.Henry Moore was called to fight in the 1st World War, having been seriously injured?
2. The British artist often turned to his imagination and childhood memories as concepts for his artworks.
3. In 1919, Henry Moore became the first sculpture student at Leeds School of Art.
4. Moore hated museums and wasting time observing and analyzing its collections, claiming that it didn’t brought anything new to modern creative vision.
5. Amply identified by his abstract interpretations of the human figure, Moore preferred to work directly with a material.
6. Had the opportunity to exhibit at MoMA, in New York, during his life.
Henry Moore, 1945
Answers
1.TRUE
Henry Moore was assigned to both of the World Wars. During the 1st World War, he was seriously injured after suffering a gas attack that brought him lung problems for the rest of his life. At the 2nd War, Moore was named a “war artist”, producing powerful series of drawings of Londoners sleeping in the London Underground while sheltering from the Blitz)
2. FALSE
Although the human figures, typically mothers and child or reclining figures, have been its central theme, Moore explored other themes. Apart from a phase in the 1950s when he sculpted family groups, many of his works were also related to the war experiences, as the helmet shaped sculptures or the “mushroom clouds”, resulting from atomic explosions.
3. TRUE
In 1919, Moore was awarded for his military service and joined the Leeds School of Art, becoming the first sculpture student. In 1921, he won a scholarship to the London’s Royal Academy of Arts.
4. FALSE
Henry loved visiting museums, and the Non-Western art was crucial for his early work. On several occasions, the artist said that the visits to the ethnographic collections of the British Museum were most relevant and inspiring than his academic studies.
5. TRUE
Barbara Hepworth and Henry Moore, both born in Wakefield and fellow colleagues either at the Leeds School of Art and at the Royal College of Arts, shared the fascination with direct carving – a technique of working directly with a material rather than the traditional method of modelling.
6. TRUE
Henry Moore had his first major exhibition at MoMA (New York) in 1946. Moore died in 1986.
