Henry Moore Studios & Gardens reopens for 2024 season with outdoor display of iconic bronze sculptures, preserved studios and tours of family home
Henry Moore Studios & Gardens, the home at Perry Green of the 20th-century sculptor, will reopen to the public on Thursday (March 28) with an outdoor display featuring 23 of his iconic bronzes, six studios preserved as he would have used them and tours of his family home, Hoglands.
The 2024 season, entitled ‘Sculpture, Inspiration and Our Natural World’, runs until Sunday November 3 and includes a programme of events inspired by the relationship between sculpture and nature.
Nature was always at the centre of Moore’s work. In 1951, he declared: “Sculpture is an art of the open air. Daylight, sunlight, is necessary to it, and for me its best setting and complement is nature. I would rather have a piece of my sculpture put in a landscape, almost any landscape, than in, or on, the most beautiful building I know.”
In Perry Green, near Much Hadham, Moore was able to explore the relationship between nature, landscape and the human form. The open countryside allowed him the freedom to create outdoors, sparking an enduring dialogue between his work and nature.
Visitors will be able to trace this relationship through a selection of sculptures displayed in the landscape he shaped. These works highlight Moore’s common themes – the reclining figure, the mother and child and the contrast between internal and external forms – and are joined by some of his purest organic abstractions that reveal the journey from handheld pebble to monumental work.
This season’s events programme draws inspiration from the natural world with creative workshops, artist talks, film screenings and open archive sessions.
Visitors to Henry Moore Studios & Gardens can explore the six studios where Moore brought his vision to life. These authentically preserved spaces where countless masterpieces were conceived now feature curated displays of the tools of his trade, the sketches that laid the foundations for his sculptures and insights into his artistic practice.
Lining the walls of Moore’s Bourne Maquette Studio are shelves crammed full of animal bones, flints found in local fields, seashells, pebbles and gnarled bits of driftwood, all intermingled with ideas for sculpture at various stages of completion.
Visitors can also book onto an intimate tour of Moore’s family home, Hoglands. The house was the centre of his life and work, visited by dozens of well-known artists, curators and collectors, as well as royals, film stars and politicians. It is filled with an extraordinary collection of artworks and natural objects that inspired him.
Families can enjoy a free Activity Sketchbook created in collaboration with illustrator and designer Lizzie Lomax. Using the view finder to explore the Moore works and 70 acres of countryside, visitors are encouraged to find some flint along the way and send a pull-out postcard to a friend. Offering an interactive trip around the site, the Sketchbook shares information about Moore’s art and life and encourages visitors to develop their own ideas with prompts to write, draw, make, move and imagine.
Many events in the 2024 programme are included in an annual ticket to the Studios & Gardens, enabling visitors to return as often as they wish to explore new elements and ideas.
Family Workshop: Cella Collective, Sunday 7 April, 11.30am-1pm, included in an annual ticket, please book a place, suitable for age 5+ – Cella is a collective of makers exploring spaces, materials and ecology through building, teaching and writing.
Creative workshop (16+): Cella Collective, Friday 12 April, 2pm-4pm, included in an annual ticket, please book a place, for adults and young people aged 16+ – Cella is a collective of makers exploring spaces, materials and ecology through building, teaching and writing.
International Sculpture Day, Saturday 27 April, 11am-4pm, included in an annual ticket, no booking needed, suitable for all ages – Celebrate sculpture with a day of drop-in activities at Henry Moore’s home. Get hands-on with Soft Sculpt, hear from our curators about Moore’s relationship with nature and explore the studios and gardens.
Open Archive, Wednesdays 22 May, 24 July, 25 September, 11am-4pm, included in an annual ticket, no booking needed – Explore the development of Henry and Irina Moore’s home, the studios and surrounding landscape over nearly half a century. Using archive material, including photos, letters and Moore’s own writings, discover how the artist was inspired by his surroundings, by the colours, wildlife, skies and seasons, and how the Moores developed the land while preserving its natural boundaries.
Family workshop with Lizzie Lomax, Sunday 26 May, 11.30am-1pm & 1.30pm-3pm, included in an annual ticket, no booking needed, suitable for all ages – Join artist Lizzie Lomax, the creator of our Activity Sketchbook and popular children’s zine SEED, for a drop-in workshop all about nature, the environment and sculpture.
Archive Film Screenings, Wednesdays 26 June & 28 August, 2.30pm, included in an annual ticket, no booking needed – Discover the wealth of footage in the Henry Moore Archive. Showcasing the theme of sculpture and nature, the archive team will share a selection of fascinating film excerpts including amateur silent Cinefilm footage shot by Moore’s foreman Frank Farnham and documentary material produced for British and American television.
