Abstract, surprising…magnificent!

A visit to the Henry Moore Foundation gave Year 8 artists fresh inspiration and insights for their own work.

Thirty pupils made the trip to the studio and gardens near Bishop’s Stortford, where they were able to see some of the greatest sculptures by Moore (1898–1986).

The group included Guy Flint and Hugh Westcott, who wrote afterwards: “Upon arrival, we explored the original studio of Henry Moore in which we found many maquettes – small, working versions of larger sculptures."

After that, they headed off to the 72-acre gardens, where many larger pieces were on display.  “Of these magnificent works of art, Knife Edge Two Piece was our favourite because we found it to be quite abstract – we could interpret it however we wanted to. We also thought the scale and size surprising: many of the sculptures were several meters tall, such as the Large Totem Head.”

In School, Guy, Hugh and their classmates have recently been sculpting and then drawing their own clay forms, basing them on the works of Moore and on natural processes such as weathering and erosion.

“Visiting the Henry Moore Foundation has inspired us, giving us new and innovative ideas on how we can work on and develop our artwork.”