Henry Moore Sheep Exhibition
Saturday 31st July – Saturday 30th
October 2010
Image kindly supplied by the Henry Moore Foundation
Harlow Council’s Gibberd Gallery in
partnership with the Friends of Harlow Sculpture Collection is
proud to host an exhibition of Henry Moore Sheep,
organised by the Henry Moore Foundation.
Each summer the Gibberd Gallery profiles the
work of artists who are represented in Harlow’s sculpture
collection. In previous years, the gallery has shown the work
of Fred Watson, Gerda Rubenstein, Paul Mount and Robert Koenig as
well as the successful group show Outside
Inside.
This year’s exhibition celebrates a particular
genre of one of Britain’s most respected sculptors, Henry Moore,
through a variety of media.
Henry Moore’s representations of sheep are
among the most popular of his works, surprising and delighting
those discovering them for the first time. He sketched the animals
as they grazed in the fields surrounding his Hertfordshire studios,
and they even inspired his monumental bronze sculpture
Sheep Piece 1971-72(LH627), which can be seen by
visiting the Henry Moore Foundation at Perry Green, www.henry-moore.org/pg. Moore
wrote: ‘Then I began to realize that underneath all that wool was a
body, which moved in its own way, and that each sheep had its
individual character.’ (1980)
Henry Moore: A Local View
Henry Moore was approached in 1954 to
undertake the Harlow Art Trust’s first commissioned sculpture. He
was an obvious choice as he was one of the country’s leading
contemporary artists, living only eight miles from Harlow in Much
Hadham. He had shown an interest in the development of the town,
and was a close friend of the Chairman of the Trust Sir Philip
Hendy, who was also Director of the National Gallery, London.
Moore chose to depict a family group, which
seemed particularly appropriate at the time as Harlow had a large
population of young families. Harlow Family Group
was unveiled by Sir Kenneth Clark in May 1956, becoming almost
immediately the town’s unofficial emblem. The iconic sculpture is
situated in the Civic Centre.
Moore’s relationship with Harlow continued throughout his life. In
1963 the Trust acquired their second of his works, Upright
Motive No. 2, which is sited in front of the Civic Centre
in The Water Gardens. In 1971 Moore wrote the introduction to the
Trust’s first publication Sculpture in Harlow. A year
later an exhibition of Moore’s work was displayed at the newly
opened Playhouse Art Centre.
Suzanne Eustace, Assistant Curator at the
Henry Moore Foundation says: “The Henry Moore Foundation is
delighted to be able to continue to maintain the relationship
between Harlow and Henry Moore by lending the exhibition
Henry Moore Sheep to the Gibberd Gallery.”
At the same time as the exhibit in the
gallery, Harlow Town Centre will host a Summertime Sheep Trail of
29 life size, highly decorated fibreglass sheep, linking the
Gibberd with the town’s newest exhibition space, Gatehouse Arts.
The trail also includes up to 8,000 small scale lambs decorated on
card by Harlow school children and visitors to the Town Centre. For
more details about the trail, go to http://www.harlowlive.com/
Activities and Events
All About Sheep!
- Friday 30th July, 10.30am –
1.30pm
Free drop-in children’s activity day.
Everyone’s invited to come to the free arts activity inspired by
the Henry Moore exhibition where you can see and hear all about it,
make a piñata full of surprises and puppet to take home.
Artists’ Sketchbooks – Wednesday
18th August 6pm – 9pm
Adult workshop to create your own hard-back
sketchbook, and following a tour of the exhibition will make their
own sketches and lino prints. Cost £5 includes all materials,
no experience necessary. To book a place please contact 01279
446438 or email Samantha.clark@harlow.gov.uk
Minute Maestro and Sculpting
Sheep - Saturday 11 September
As part of Heritage Open Days, The Gibberd
Gallery will be extending its opening hours to host an
activity-filled day. Become a musical maestro and conduct
musicians from the City of London Symphonia – 10.30am-1pm. Free
drop-in sheep sculpting workshop run by The Henry Moore Foundation
– 2-5pm. This fun clay-sculpting workshop is suitable for all
ages but children must bring an adult.
For further information and images please contact
me. The attached image has been supplied by the Henry Moore
Foundation
Gibberd Gallery
Civic Centre
The Water Gardens
Harlow
Essex
CM20 1WG
Opening Times:
Weekdays 9.00am - 5.00pm
Saturdays 9.00am–12noon
Closed on Sundays and Bank Holidays