During the early part of World War II, Henry Moore had to give up working on sculpture when his Hampstead studio was bombed. Instead he concentrated on drawing, creating a monumental series of works showing the plight of people sheltering in the London Underground. This work considers Moore's visual documentation of the shelters within the context of the events of the London Blitz of 1940-41. It looks at Moore's personal and political feelings about the coming war and his doubts about working as an Official War Artist, comparing Moore's wartime drawings to works by other artists and to documentary photographs. In addition, the author considers the influence of the Shelter Drawings on people's feelings about the Blitz and their effect on public attitudes towards Moore's work.
Author Biography
During a long career with the British Council, Julian Andrews worked closely with The Henry Moore Foundation on the organisation of exhibitions of the artist's work in many parts of the world. His previous publications include Sutherland: The Wartime Drawings, with Roberto Tassi, and The Sculpture of David Nash, also published by Lund Humphries. Julian Andrews' interest in the Shelter Drawings of Henry Moore went back to his own childhood experience of taking shelter on the Underground during the Blitz of 1940-41.
