MOORE, Henry

Henry Moore OM CH FBA (1898 – 1986) was an English artist. He is best known for his semi-abstract monumental bronze sculptures which are located around the world as public works of art. Moore also produced many drawings, including a series depicting Londoners sheltering from the Blitz during the Second World War, along with other graphic works on paper.

The La Poésie Lithographs

I have four lithographic prints created for La Poésie (Poetry) that were made between 1973-76. Moore was invited to illustrate a group of French poets selected by the French President at the time, Georges Pompidou. The poets selected included the literary greats including Racine, Gérard de Nerval, Victor Hugo, Charles Baudelaire, Stéphane Mallarmé and Paul Valéry. The idea was to develop illustrations that resonated with the literary quotations chosen. Themes that he had visited in his previous prints such as sculptural and stone forms, standing and reclining figures would recur. The lithographs were noted for their tonality and colour palette that have a slightly dream-like atmosphere and delicate quality, with the forms and figures given generous space. All these example are listed in Kramer.