Henry Moore's Sheep Sketchbook

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It was whilst working in this small room that Henry Moore first became aware of the sheep grazing outside. Solid in form, sudden and vigourous in movement, Henry Moore’s sheep are created through a network of swirling and zigzagging lines in the rapid and (in the artist’s hands) sensitive medium of ballpoint pen. The lakeside promenade at Zürichhorn is home to one of the typical works by the English sculptor Henry Moore. He drew a ewe and lamb – a large form sheltering a small one – which is an important theme in his larger sculpture work. Accurately reproducing the pages of Moore's 1972 sketchbook, this gem of a book gives a glimpse into the private inspirations of one of the giants of 20th-century British art.

In February 1972 Henry Moore's sculpture studios in the English countryside at Much Hadham were filled with the preparations for his retrospective exhibition in Florence. Perhaps Moore could see the process occurring when a sheep was augmenting its surroundings naturally and more quickly than he could with a sculptural work. They also developed strong human and biblical associations, and the sight of a ewe with her lamb evoked the mother-and-child theme - a large form sheltering a small one - which has been important to Henry Moore in all his work.

He drew the sheep again that summer after they were shorn, when he could see the shapes of the bodies which had been covered by wool. Henry Moore often sketched ideas for his sculptures in pencil, charcoal, color washes, and even ballpoint pen.

Henry Spencer Moore (1898-1986) was an internationally celebrated sculptor, and one of the most important British artists of the twentieth century. It was whilst working in a small room overlooking the fields at his home in Much Hadham that Henry Moore first became aware of the sheep grazing there. It feels really personal and you can clearly see his use of mark making and where he has put a ‘wash’ on etc. At Goldmark we understand the risks of sending delicate art and ceramics in the post, that’s why we hand package in made to measure boxes, frame and seal every purchase.Another cast has been in the Kansas City Sculpture Park in Kansas City since 1976, [12] in the grounds of the Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art. A cast was loaned for the public exhibition in Battersea Park for Elizabeth II's Silver Jubilee in 1977, and a cast was included in an exhibition organised by the Musée de l'Orangerie in Paris, and displayed in the Tuileries the same year. In 1972, when the packing and crating for a major exhibition made it impossible for him to work in his sculpture studios, Henry Moore retreated to a small studio that looks out on a sheep meadow. These sheep sketches are wonderful- they are fluid and expressive, whilst capturing the very essence of the sheep. He relied on varying the tone to capture light and shadow, form (the round solidity of a sheep) and shape (insinuating the shape of the nail’s body beneath the fleece).

He captures the sheep’s energy and sudden vigorous movement as well as their repose and calm thoughtfulness. In his book Photographing People, Hedgecoe described two images of Moore, which played with the scale between sculptor and sculpture: ‘When considering a long-term project involving a pictorial record of a person’s life, it is important to include shots such as these above, that show the viewer important aspects of the subject’s work. In September, farmers are checking the condition of their ewe, ready for them to join the rams and begin the mating game in October. Although he produced around 30 photography manuals, these were Hedgecoe’s only books on a single subject. Moore has been acknowledged as one of the greatest sculptors of the 20th century and as the most celebrated British artist of his time.In February 1972 Henry Moore's sculpture studios in the English countryside at Much Hadham were filled with the preparations for his retrospective exhibition at Florence.