Henry Moore : sculpting the 20th century

Henry Moore (1898-1986) is arguably one of the most famous and beloved sculptors of the twentieth century, yet in recent decades his work has fallen out of favour in the world of contemporary art criticism. This handsome book examines this intriguing contradiction and seeks to reassess Moore's crucial contribution to art of the last century. Looking at Moore's early engagements with primitivism, his 1930s dialogue with abstraction and surrealism, and his postwar interest in large-scale public sculpture, the authors show how the sculptor helped to define some of the most significant aspects of modernism. The authors also contextualise within the polemics of early modernism Moore's emphasis on direct carving instead of modeling and the necessary balance between abstraction and what he called the "psychological human element". Moore's early sculpture - largely unfamiliar to the general public - is given particular attention, enabling the reader to explore the evolution of thematic and formal elements in his work and his ongoing response to different materials. Photographs, some by Moore himself, of over 120 works, including plasters, maquettes, carvings, bronzes, and drawings, are features, many of which are previously unpublished. This catalogue accompanies a major exhibition organised by the Dallas Museum of Art with the generous collaboration of the Henry Moore Foundation. The exhibition opens in Dallas on 25th February 2001 and then travels to the Fine Arts Museums of San Francisco and the National Gallery of Art in Washington, D.C.