Henry Moore sculpture in Pembroke

This week, Figure in a Shelter (1983) was installed in Foundress Court

The college received the statue on loan from the Henry Moore Foundation, which was founded in 1977 to encourage public appreciation of art, and in particular to preserve Moore’s legacy and work.

The Head of Henry Moore Collections and Exhibitions at the Foundation, Sebastiano Barassi, who came to witness the statue’s installation, explained that Figure in a Shelter (1983) is a development of Moore’s earlier work, beginning with his visits to the Wallace collection, a national museum in London.  Through visiting the collection Moore’s attention was caught by the armour on display, and particularly by helmets.  His sketches led to the Helmet Head series of sculptures, reflecting Moore’s interest in external and internal forms; the hard, external shell of a helmet encasing the soft inner form.  Moore enlarged the Helmet series and created Figure in Shelter (1983), also drawing from from his 1942 shelter drawings.  Figure in Shelter (1983), now installed at Pembroke, is one of several incarnations of the statue. Large Figure in a Shelter (1986) resides at Perry Green, while a second cast is on display in Guernica, in the Basque region of Spain, in the Parque de los pueblos de Europa.
Pembroke’s statue completes a triangle of Henry Moore’s work located within easy walking distance of each other. The other two pieces are Hills Arches (1973) which can be found outside the Fitzwilliam Museum; and Falling Warrior (1956) in Clare College. Images and descriptions of Moore’s sculptures, including Moore’s own words, can be found on the Henry Moore Foundation’s website, as can a list of works in public.