Moore, Henry: Figure Sleeping in a Shelter
£150.00
An original collotype in colour, a print copied from the Shelter Sketchbook including Moore’s handwritten notes, in excellent condition and recently framed.
Henry Moore’s ‘Shelter Sketchbook’, which recorded Londoners sheltering on the Underground during the Blitz, is one of the most remarkable records of the impact of the Second World War. These prints record a critical period in London’s history.
In 1967, 80 of Henry Moore’s drawings were reproduced as ‘collotypes’ – a form of very high quality printmaking achieving near photographic standards – and issued in English, German and Italian boxed editions of 180 copies each. The images presented here are from one of the English editions numbered 79 of 180 and provided with a copy of the signed certificate. From the ‘Gallery Reese Palley’ Atlantic City, New Jersey.
More images can be provided on request.
Artist: Henry Moore, (1898-1986)
Title and date: Figure Sleeping in Shelter, 1940/41, printed 1967
Size: 18.5 x 16 cms.
Description
Artist description:
Henry Moore was born into a large family in Castleford, a small mining town in Yorkshire, England. While still at school he began to carve wood and model clay and decided that he wanted to be a sculptor. His father however, thought that teaching would be a more practical option, so rather than going to the local art college, Moore trained as a teacher and began teaching at his old school.
In 1916, when he was 18, Henry Moore joined the army and he travelled to France with his regiment where they fought in the battle of Cambrai. Moore was sent home after suffering from the effects of a gas attack. Once he had recovered he went back to teaching but soon realised that it wasn’t for him and instead began studying at Leeds School of Art. In 1921 he won a scholarship to study sculpture at the Royal Academy of Art in London where he became particularly interested in Mexican, Egyptian and African sculptures at the British Museum. After graduating, Henry Moore stayed in London and joined other artists experimenting with ideas and styles. In the 1930s, he joined an artist group called Unit One, which included Barbara Hepworth, Ben Nicholson and Paul Nash. He was also a member of the British Surrealist movement, and took part in the International Surrealist Exhibition in London in 1936.
During the Second World War, Moore was asked by the War Artists’ Advisory Committee to document life on the home front. He drew people sheltering in bomb shelters in London underground stations and these drawings, along with those he made later in coal mines, are considered among his greatest achievements.
Henry Moore won the International Prize for Sculpture at the Venice Biennale of 1948, and from then onwards, he remained in huge demand. His distinctive sculptures can still be seen in parks and squares in cities all over the world.