Henry Moore: Shadows on the Wall

A pen and ink drawing with coloured pencils of four figures standing in a setting with brown walls i Henry Moore (1898-1986), Four Figures in a Setting, 1948, pen and black ink, coloured pencils, wax crayon, watercolour, 570 x 765 mm, Henry Moore Foundation: acquired 2011. Photo: Michael Phipps. Reproduced by permission of Henry Moore Foundation. HMF 2485

8 June – 22 Sep 2024 
The Gilbert and Ildiko Butler Drawings Gallery  

This focused exhibition considers Henry Moore’s (1898 – 1986) celebrated Shelter drawings as the point of departure for a new reading of the artist’s fascination with images of the wall, during and immediately after World War II.

From the London Underground, where Moore drew figures sheltering from the bomb raids, the walls of these spaces came to absorb his attention in an altogether new way, becoming scene-setters, and key components of his drawings. This fascination with the bricks and the presence of walls, their texture, mass and volume, became especially important after his project to illustrate the wartime radio play The Rescue, based on Homer’s Odyssey. 

Henry Moore: Shadows on the Wall, a collaboration with the Henry Moore Foundation, suggests for the first time that the walls in his drawings offer a new way to understand some of his most individual and monumental Post-War sculpture projects. 

The programme of displays in the Gilbert and Ildiko Butler Drawings Gallery is generously supported by the International Music and Art Foundation, with additional support from James Bartos. 

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8 June – 22 Sep 2024 

10:00 – 18:00 (last entry 17:15)

The Courtauld Gallery  The Gilbert and Ildiko Butler Drawings Gallery 
A pen and ink drawing with coloured pencils of four figures standing in a setting with brown walls
Henry Moore (1898-1986), Four Figures in a Setting, 1948, pen and black ink, coloured pencils, wax crayon, watercolour, 570 x 765 mm, Henry Moore Foundation: acquired 2011. Photo: Michael Phipps. Reproduced by permission of Henry Moore Foundation. HMF 2485

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