Henry Moore: Wunderkammer: origin of forms, Gagosian

Henry Moore was a pioneer of modern sculpture in Britain and has earned an international reputation for his public works of art.

The jewels in the crown of Henry Moore sculptures are the large-sale bronze sculptures that could dominate entire fields, crafted from miniature maquettes, often small enough to fit on a side-table. Moore worked closely with the surfaces of these models, which were then blown up and used to cast into bronze. Today, many of these miniatures dot Moore’s studio at Perry Green.

Henry Moore Gagosian gallery exhibition 2015

London contemporary art gallery, Gagosian are recreating the Henry Moore Perry Green studio with these small scale sculptures of Moore’s abstract forms. Expect a juxtaposition of models with found objects from nature (like shells and bone), which show how Moore appropriated natural forms in a bid to heal the world’s human-inflicted wounds. Look out for the maquettes of Wall Relief (1955), a work which explores a new direction for the Classical model of relief carving. This sculpture exhibition London rightfully makes artefacts, effigies, maquettes and the Henry Moore drawings into modern artwork in their own right.

Henry Moore and Barbara Hepworth 2015

The Henry Moore/ Barbara Hepworth relationship is particularly relevant in 2015 as Tate Britain prepares to launch its major Hepworth retrospective in the summer. Both Hepworth and Moore responded in their work to the horrific events of the twentieth century, and they shared an interest in direct carving. This innovative new process allowed sculptors to work directly with their material rather than modeling plaster or casting bronzes, eliminating the distance between the sculptor’s hand and surface.

Pay a visit to both these sculpture exhibitions London and decide for yourself which is your favourite.