As was tradition at the time, Moore was trained in classical methods – particularly, the romantic Victorian style and the use of natural forms, landscapes, and figurative modeling of animals. And while this natural style continued to influence Moore throughout his career what set him on the path that transformed his work was a six month tour of Italy and Paris where he would have met other modernist sculptors such as Brancusi, Epstein, Guadier-Brzeska, and for the first time, he would have seen ethnographic sculptures such as the Toltec- Mayan cast of the warrior god, Chooc Mool. This reclining figure with his head turned directly to the viewer would inform many of the reclining figures that came to define Moore’s iconic sculpture.
Moore returned to London and became a teacher at the Royal College of Art. On the days not teaching Moore would find time to sculpt, complete a public commission and have his first solo exhibition. After marrying a young painter, Irina Radetsky who he met at the Royal College of Art, Moore would move to the artistic community of Hamstead Heath.
In 1940, Moore and Irina would move out of Hampstead after their home was hit by bomb shrapnel to a rented farmhouse in the hamlet of Perry Green near Much Hadham, Hertfordshire. The sale of a 1939 elmwood Reclining Figure – for £300 to fellow artist Gordon Onslow Ford –
allowed Moore to buy the whole house, including the gardens and outbuildings, all of which would became Moore’s studios. As Moore’s fame grew and sales increased, Moore had the means to purchase more and more land around the farmhouse to the point where the acreage rose to the size it is today (70 acres). Moore would live at the farmhouse for the remainder of this life.
In the 1950s, Moore was receiving significant commissions, and by the 1970s was paying more than a million pounds in income tax. In response to this burden and in hopes of controlling his legacy, Moore set up the Henry Moore Trust in 1972 as a registered charity. Overseen by his wife and daughter, the foundation encourages the public appreciation of the visual arts and especially the works of Moore. It now runs his house and estate at Perry Green with a gallery, studio, archives, and gardens.
The Henry Moore Studio and Gardens
The grounds of Henry Moore Studio and Gardens holds Moore’s home, multiple sculptures and several buildings, all accessible to the public by reservation during the Spring, Summer, and Fall (the grounds are closed during Winter.)
Hoglands is the home Moore shared with his
Video:
Courtesy of Henry Moore Foundation & Youtube.
Opposite:
Henry Moore, "Large Reclining Figure" bronze.
Photo Courtesy of:
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