Art Technicians Matthias Kessemeier and Dai Roberts clean Henry Moore's Large Reclining Figure atop the purpose-built mound it sits on at the Henry Moore Studios & Gardens. All the sculptures in the Gardens here are cleaned each year prior to the centre opening for the spring and summer season. Over 9m long and weighing 4 tonnes, this is Moore's largest work to be cast in bronze. Henry Moore had a particular fondness for sheep and had an arrangment with his neighbouring farmer (that exists to this day) that the farmer could use Henry's fields for the sheep to graze in. Moore greatly enjoyed observing and drawing sheep in this particular field, which his studio overlooks. Moore delighted in the fact that sheep would congregate around and offer a sense of scale to his work. The Henry Moore Studios & Gardens open to the public on Thursday 28th March 2024. (From press release: -) Nature was always at the centre of Moore’s work. In 1951, he famously declared: “Sculpture is an art of the open air. Daylight, sunlight, is necessary to it, and for me its best setting and complement is nature. I would rather have a piece of my sculpture put in a landscape, almost any landscape, than in, or on, the most beautiful building I know.” Hertfordshire. Photograph by David Levene 26 March 2023
Henry Moore, Hertfordshire

Henry Moore, Hertfordshire

Henry Moore, Hertfordshire