PCGUIA 10/PC Guia 10.iso/database/shared.dir/01527_Field_125.cap.txt

Text File | 1996-03-14 | 4KB | 250 lines

@
Henry Moore's
first exhibition
was at the
Warren Gallery in
London in 1928.
In the same year
he won his first
major public
commission, a
relief of the
"West Wind" for
the London
Underground
headquarters
#
The mother-and-
child theme, like
that of the
reclining female
figure was "an
absolute
obsession" for
Moore. One such
sculpture was
described by a
critic as "both a
descendant of
and a challenge to
a thousand en-
throned Madonnas,
including
Donatello's and
Michelangelo's"
#
The major
influence on the
young Moore -
deeper than the
experience of
war in the
trenches - was
his circle of
gifted and
influential friends:
the painter Ben
Nicholson, the
sculptor Barbara
Hepworth, and
the critic
Herbert Read
#
Henry Moore's
Shelter drawings
showed people
taking refuge at
night in London's
Underground
stations from
bombing raids in
the Blitz. He was
appointed Official
War Artist in
1941. Drawing
was important to
Moore, as part of
his sculptural
work and, later,
in its own right
#
When his studio
in London was
bombed during
the second world
war, Moore
bought a house in
Hertfordshire
which was to be
his home and
studio for the rest
of his life. After
the war, Moore's
wife redesigned
the grounds
around the studio
to provide an
outdoor setting
for his sculpture
#
In the early days
of his career
Moore had been
unable to make a
living from
sculpture, so he
supported
himself by
teaching. In spite
of the wealth
his subsequent
 success brought
him, Moore was
renowned for the
simplicity of his
lifestyle and
hard work
#
By the time of his
death in 1986,
Henry Moore's
work could be
seen throughout
the world. Alan
Bowness, then
director of the
Tate Gallery in
London, said of
Moore that "Not
even Michelangelo,
not even Rodin,
ever enjoyed such
an audience. His
sculpture will
never be forgotten"
@
In 1930 Moore spoke of "recognising the material" in which he
worked. He aimed "to know that sculpture in stone should look
honestly like stone, that to make it look like flesh and blood, hair
and dimples is coming down to the level of the stage conjurer"
#
Moore said
sculpture should
be "strong and
vital, giving out
something of the
energy of the
mountains"
#
Moore drew
influences from
the previous
generation of
sculptors. The
maxim of 'truth
to material' was
central to his
working method,
and he praised
the Romanian
sculptor
Constantin
Brancusi for
making "us once
more shape-
conscious."
#
As the primitivism
of the Twenties
gave way to the
influence of
antique and renais-
sance classicism
of the Fifties,
Moore's work was
criticised by
modernists for
being too attached
to the past. Moore's
ex-assistant,
the sculptor
Anthony Caro,
wrote of work
which "fails to
measure up to
the outsize scale
it has been given"
#
Seated groups
and reclining
figures were
always central to
Moore's work. As
a human element
in the landscape,
often sited in
gardens or public
parks, his works,
in his words,
"introduced a
humanising ele-
ment, a mediator
between the
modern house and
the ageless land."
@
Monroe married
her second
husband, baseball
star Joe DiMaggio,
in 1954. "I
wonder if I can
take all your
crazy publicity",
he said. He
couldn't (he
particularly
objected to the
billowing-skirt
scene from The
Seven Year Itch),
and nine months
later they
divorced. But
they remained
lifelong friends
#
Monroe's third
husband was the
famous American
playwright,
Arthur Miller.
One US paper
headlined the
announcement of
their marriage:
"Egghead weds
hourglass". Asked
what the secret
was of Miller's
appeal, Monroe
replied:
"Everything.
Haven't you seen
him?"
#
After her death, rumours spread that Monroe had had affairs with both John Kennedy (centre) and his brother Robert (far left). A friend, the actor Peter Lawford, claimed that she told him to "Say goodbye to Jack [President Kennedy]" on the night of her death
#
The Kennedy
connection led to
speculation about
Monroe's suicide
- and to the
allegation that
she had in fact
been murdered,
to cover up her
relationship with
the president