HENRY MOORE EPOCH AND ECHO ENGLISH SCULPTURE IN THE 20TH CENTURY

The picturesque south German town of Schwäbisch Hall (Baden-Württemburg) is currently home to this spectacular exhibition of post-1950s, specifically English, sculpture.

A large cross-section of Henry Moore’s work provides the keynote for a wide-ranging review of pieces by Barbara Hepworth, Anthony Caro, Eduardo Paolozzi, Tim Scott, Barry Flanagan, David Nash, Tony Cragg, Richard Deacon, Anthony Gormley and Anish Kapoor. Twelve of Moore’s bronzes are sited outdoors at strategic locations throughout the narrow streets of timber-framed dwellings, whilst over a hundred other works by the artist occupy the stunning Kunstalle Würth, which hosts the exhibition. Notionally, the show builds and expands on the museum’s own holdings, not least its recent acquisition of Large Internal Form 1981-82 (LH 297b), one of four Moore bronzes serving as a frontispiece at the entrance.

Two large elmwood carvings, Reclining Figure 1959-64 (LH 452) and Reclining Figure : Holes 1976-78 (LH 657) dominate the central floor of the gallery, along with selected bronzes, plasters, wood carvings, drawings and a recreation of the artist’s maquette studio. The influence and contrast of Moore’s - and Hepworth’s - work with their later contemporaries and successors to the avant-garde is particularly well illustrated through the tensions and paradoxes of the human form and its antitheses.

Exhibition curated by Sylvia Weber, Ian Barker and Lun Tuchnowski,. A bi-lingual (English/German) catalogue, with an essay by Christa Lichtenstern. Was published to accompany the show.