Culture Club – Peninsula Arts and Humanities Alliance

“Hands II,” etching, by Henry Moore.

Henry Moore, who died in 1986 at age 88, is one of the best-known sculptors of the 20th century. Born in 1898 among the hardscrabble coal towns of rugged Yorkshire, England, this quiet, unassuming man became renowned for his monumental sculpture and is now considered to be one of the art world’s most influential modernists. Many people, however, aren’t aware of Moore’s remarkable accomplishments as a printmaker and sketch artist.

Moore believed that drawing was necessary to the creation of modern sculpture. In an interview with the BBC some years ago, he said, “If you can’t draw it in two dimensions, you can’t sculpt it in three.” Two-dimensional representations, according to the master, were critical to the entire process of sculpting.

And therein lies the beauty and significance of the Fairfield Art Center’s Henry Moore collection. We don’t have examples of his monumental sculptures, weighing tens of tons and standing 30 feet tall; rather, we have examples of his work that you can enjoy from no more than an arm’s length away. This “approachableness” makes the collection a treasure for Henry Moore enthusiasts.

The collection comprises more than 80 pieces, including five maquettes, and these works reveal the evolution of Henry Moore in vivid detail. For those who may never see a full-scale Moore sculpture, these prints and drawings provide an intimate look at the subtle forms and shapes that have become a hallmark of the artist’s work.

One of Moore’s best-known subjects is the reclining figure. He experiments with the female form in numerous prints and drawings, many represented in the Fairfield’s permanent collection. His goal, according to scholars, was not to find the “perfect” form, but to experiment and thus discover the many possible forms for representing his subject.

Andrew Stevens, a noted Moore scholar, has said that there were some forms that were particularly appealing to Moore, any one of which he could have happily explored for the rest of his creative life. All of the forms recur throughout his prints as well as in his sculptures. Themes that he identified as central to his work include the mother and child image, “interior/exterior ideas” and the reclining figure. His reclining figures are sometimes clearly identifiable; however, Moore admitted that he was likely to “find a reclining figure in anything.”

The new Henry Moore Gallery located on the lower level of the Fairfield Art Center.

Moore’s “interior/exterior ideas” can apply to a broad range of prints. He explores the theme in his lithograph "Hands II," in which one hand closes around the other, and in his print “Bole and Creeper,” which again takes up the theme of interior and exterior by exploring forms that partially envelope one another.

According to Stevens, Moore was also fascinated with what he called “the mystery of the hole – the mysterious fascination of caves in hillsides and cliffs.” He relates this directly to sculpture in which “the hole made through a piece of stone is a revelation.”

Forms with holes and caverns are important in his prints as well, and this underlying interest creates a connection between many of his works. In a series of prints, Moore examines the skull of an elephant – given to him by the English biologist Julian Huxley – from a variety of angles. These prints give us a glimpse of what Moore found interesting about these objects: their balance, or symmetry; and their pierced forms, sculpted by the natural forces of erosion or evolution.

Moore’s maquettes are an important step between his drawings and his monumental sculptures. They were often studies for larger works and gave the artist a sense of how the final works would look. As with his prints, Moore produced the maquettes in editions once they had met his approval. Also like the prints, they take up many of the same formal ideas, such as naturally eroded shapes or the human form, but all bear Moore’s unique mark, like blazes on a trail the artist forged in his explorations of form.

To emphasize the importance the Fairfield Art Center places on the permanent collection, we have created the new Henry Moore Gallery, with community support, to exhibit Moore’s work throughout the year. To be able to show the work of a renowned modern master here in Sturgeon Bay is both a privilege and an honor. We invite everyone to come and witness the incredible genius of Henry Moore for themselves. This world-famous artist is far more approachable than one might think.

Walt Freckmann is the executive director and curator of the Fairfield Art Center. The art center is located at 242 Michigan Street and is open free to the public. The Fairfield will be open Tuesday through Friday, 10 am – 5 pm, and Saturdays 10 am – 4 pm. It will be closed Sundays, Mondays and all major holidays.