Henry Moore

The most prominent British sculptor of the 20th century, Henry Moore (1898-1986) was also a prolific graphic artist, producing drawings as well as hundreds of prints. His sculptor’s interest in the interrelationship of shape and mass, and in the connections and intersections among different forms, translates eloquently into his graphic work. These intricate, often delicate objects explore the same universal themes found in Moore’s sculpture – the roots of creation, the body, life, and death. Like his sculpture, Moore’s prints examine these primal themes through the language of abstraction, where line and form are imbued with meaning. Moore’s works, both sculptural and graphic, reflect his reactions to the changing political and social climate of his times, as well as the preoccupations of his own life, from the threat of war and nuclear annihilation to the birth of his child. “Spirit and Essence, Line and Form” showcases approximately 25 works on paper culled from the recent gift of some 330 works of Moore’s graphic art from the Philip and Muriel Berman Foundation.

Credit: Exhibition overview from museum website.