Henry Moore

In painting and sculpture, as in music, it could not be claimed that Britain has occupied a dominant position in the decades since the Second World War. There have, however, been some exceptions to this general rule, and in sculpture Henry Moore has certainly been one. The son of a Yorkshire coal miner, Moore (born 1898) has been the most significant single figure of his generation in British art. His sculptures, using space as well as solid mass and based on psychological insight, have brought him an international reputation. Much of his most noted work is exhibited outside Britain - for example at the Lincoln Center in New York and the UNESCO headquarters in Paris. It took him the whole first half of his life to establish his stature: until 1939 he was still earning his main living as an art college teacher. Then the international sculpture prize at the Venice Biennale in 1948 gave him his first full recognition. A characteristic of Moore's work is bold use of and respect for the organic nature of his materials.

Brian Harrison: Britain observed. 1945 to the present day; Ernst Klett Verlag, Stuttgart, 1984, page 124