Henry Moore: Drawing in the Dark

This exhibition showcases the coalmining drawings by, celebrated artist, Henry Moore eighty years since they were completed for the War Artists’ Advisory Committee (WAAC).

Moore is famous for his sculpture, particularly of women and abstract forms, and his drawings of Londoners sheltering from the blitz in 1940. But he was also the son of a miner from Castleford in Yorkshire, and as a war artist he developed a detailed series of drawings from sketches he made in 1942 at Wheldale Colliery where his father had worked. Moore spent one week in the mine drawing from observation and then worked from memory to create the remaining drawings, which were all completed within six months.

Curated by University of Hertfordshire Arts + Culture and played out within the theatre of the dark-walled, subterranean Weston Gallery, the timely exhibition takes inspiration from the new book, Drawing in the Dark by art historian, Chris Owen.

Free