Henry Moore Exhibition @ The Cooper Gallery

In January 2023, The Cooper Gallery will host a major touring exhibition of work by Henry Moore, on loan from the Sainsbury Centre.  

Henry Moore: Threads of Influence – spans Henry Moore’s career, from early life drawings and carvings to iconic drawings and late prints and demonstrates the multiple facets of Moore’s practice. A range of connected objects will illuminate Moore’s work in a new way, demonstrating how disparate cultures and contexts informed him. Other related objects from The Cooper Gallery Collection will also sit alongside the display.

Key objects are two early life drawings of his wife Irina, which demonstrate how Moore’s commitment to studying the human form laid the foundations for his ongoing sculptural practice. Sculptural Object in Landscape (1939) and Reclining Figures for Metal Sculpture (1940) portray how Moore was conceiving monumental sculpture before he had the means to achieve this vast scale in three dimensions. The exhibition includes four Shelter Drawings inspired by the scenes in the London Underground during the Blitz. As an Official War Artist, Moore’s drawings of the subject were displayed at the National Gallery during the War, and they propelled him to fame before his sculpture was widely known.

The free exhibition runs from Saturday, 28 January to Saturday, 3 June. It explores Moore’s influence over the years, from artists such as Henri Gaudier-Brzeska and Jacob Epstein to ancient sculptures from Mexico and beyond.

The Cooper collection features two figurative drawings by Moore, which will be on display as part of the exhibition.

Councillor Robert Frost, Cabinet Spokesperson for Regeneration and Culture, said: 

“Moore’s work is iconic, and we are delighted to have an artist of his calibre on display in The Cooper Gallery. The exhibition sits perfectly alongside more of his pieces in the gallery’s permanent collection, which will be on display at the same time, and gives a greater understanding of his work. 

He has strong links to Yorkshire, and people can discover more of his work at the Yorkshire Sculpture Park, Hepworth Gallery and in the Henry Moore Institute in Leeds, making it a great trail of the area as well as art.”

To find out more about the free exhibition visit www.cooper-gallery.com