Skip to Content

Henry Moore at Kew Gardens

Maybe it was the beautiful spring sunshine, or the fact that we got there early and had the place to ourselves, or the carpets of spring bulbs, or the fact that I was feeling relaxed and child free, but I was quite blown away by the Henry Moore exhibition at Kew. As it says on the website, it’s monumental sculpture in a world heritage setting.


Henry Moore is known for his organic shapes in bronze and marble, often abstractions of the human form. His work was often inspired by the shapes of bone and stone flints that he found near his home and I particularly love his female figures and those that represent mother and child.


I’d like to tell you that I took time to enjoy and photograph all 28 sculptures that were dotted around the botanic gardens, and chose the best for you. The truth is that my camera battery ran out and we’d already spent time looking at other things, so I couldn’t really do it justice.


Unfortunately, the exhibition finishes on 30th March, so if you live nearby you have one more week to race along and see it. The good news is that the Kew Gardens website has photos, information and an interesting audio discussion on each of the 28 pieces of sculpture. Such is the benefit of the internet age that you too can enjoy these treats from afar.


There were two things that I particularly loved about the exhibition. One is that each piece had been so thoughtfully positioned within the gardens to enhance both sculpture and landscape so that I could barely imagine what it will be like once the sculpture is not there.


The second was how incredibly tactile the sculptures were – one could not resist running a hand over the sinuous forms and many had a smooth, bark like texture that was very satisfying.

I’m so sorry Henry Moore, that I didn’t find this exhibition earlier, but I’ll certainly be taking some time over my Easter break to discover more of the photos and on the website of the pieces that I missed.

Related Posts
The View from Richmond Hill
Down by the River at Richmond

This article is originally published at Heatheronhertravels.com

Click to subscribe to our monthly newsletter, news and reader offers

Subscribe to Heather on her travels newsletter
Click here to cancel reply.

An artistic lunch at the V & A - in London | Heather on her travels

Tuesday 26th of April 2011

[...] Posts Friday photo – Pavement dreams in London Henry Moore at Kew Gardens Things to enjoy at the Mandarin Oriental, Hyde Park (without breaking the [...]

Marianne North Gallery at Kew Gardens, London | Heather on her travels

Monday 21st of March 2011

[...] Henry Moore at Kew Gardens [...]

Andrew Norton

Friday 17th of September 2010

Thank you for making your photo of the Henry Moore sculpture available under a creative commons attribution license for others to use via Flickr.

I have added your photo to a post about garden sculptures called “Glorious garden ornaments and seductive sculptures” on the Dobbies gardening blog:

http://www.dobbies.co.uk/blog/garden-sculptures

I hope you enjoy the post but, if you have any objections with the use of your photo please let me know and I will change it immediately.

All the best.

Pagoda at Nan Lian Garden | All About Gardening

Saturday 4th of September 2010

[...] Th&#1110&#1109 photo links t&#959 m&#1091 blog article www.heatheronhertravels.com/henry-moore-&#1072t-kew-gardens/ [...]

Friday photo - Pavement dreams in London | Heather on her travels

Sunday 18th of April 2010

[...] Related Posts An artistic lunch at the V & A in London Friday Photo - Cheka Kidogo (smile a little) in London Henry Moore at Kew Gardens [...]