Seeing nature of Henry Moore's art

The morning sun penetrates the hole in the bronze figure and shines on visitors' faces. The sculpture feels cold in the autumn breeze.

The works of Henry Moore, the late British sculpting master, can now be seen in the red-walled Beihai Park, which used to be a royal garden in downtown Beijing, looming over the rippling lake traversed by boats.

Henry Moore (1898-1986) is one of the world's two most widely recognized modern sculptors (the other being Augustine Rodin), and this is the first time his work has been on display in China.

The exhibition has been organized by China's Ministry of Culture, the British Council and the China International Exhibition Agency.

According to Zhang Yu from the Agency, 138 sculptures - the heaviest one weighing more than three tons - will be exhibited in Beijing, Shanghai and Guang-zhou between now and April next year.

In Beijing, 12 large sculptures are on display in Beihai Park and will be there for six months while the others will be taken on a tour of the three cities starting from October 23.

One special aspect of the exhibition is the fact that the park has been chosen as the venue. This outdoor setting reflects Henry Moore's concept of sculpture. He once said: "It is an element in a setting, placed as a character or architect against the background of fields and hills.

"The sculpture should be in harmony with the rhythm and breathing of evolving nature."
Moore always took the environment into consideration in the process of creation, for example, would the sculpture be placed in the Yorkshire countryside alongside grazing sheep, such as "Family Group" (1948-1949)? Or would it be besides a fierce sea, such as "Two Forms" (1966), or in the blazing sunshine of the summer or the silent snow of the winter?

"This unification of man and nature is a major concept the sculptor wanted to express, which was borrowed from traditional Chinese art and certain primitive arts," said Wang Duanting, a professor at the China National Academy of Arts.

In the 1920s, Moore realized that if an artist wanted to express the vital energy of nature, he had to assimilate all human efforts to give form to this, from the Chinese to the Sumerian (the non-Jewish element in ancient Babylonia), from the early Stone Age to the Egyptian, from Ancient Greek to Roman efforts, from the art of Africa to that of Mexico.

Moore believed his sculptures, his response to the problems of the 20th century, were similar to the ancient arts in that they are all searching for an inner and absolute truth.
Influenced by Picasso and Modigliani, Moore used simple and powerful forms to express the concept of the universe's vitality, as reflected in his masterpiece "King and Queen" (1952-1953). With all details omitted, the sculpture is shrouded in solemnity and holiness.

Moore used sculpture as a means of self-expression, and in this way he differs from his predecessors, the classical sculptors, whose works were a memorial to the dead or a record of historic events.

Most sculptors in the past were religious or political.

Moore wasn't. In his hands sculpture became an independent art form.

The man born at the turn of the last century is a bridge between the traditional and the modern, the figurative and the abstract, the real and the surreal.

Yet Moore is also different from the modernists. While most modern artists took violence, sex, rebellion and refusal as themes, Moore concentrated on more mild topics such as nature, parental love and friendship - about one-third of his works were entitled "Mother and Son."

"Moore wanted to express the harmony between the mysterious existence of nature and the secret current of man's primary feelings - tenderness, passion and energy," said David Mitchinson, a British art critic and Moore's biography writer.

Moore's sculptures are often smooth and elegant, and rarely rugged or tough.

"Moore does not mean to shock people. The fluent lines and the friendly shapes make me feel warm and close to him," said Yang Jie, a visitor to Beihai Park.

It was not until the sculptor's last years that the dark power of death and torture grasped him. The exaggerated deformity and sharp angles of the bronze and rock figures show bitterness and fierce pain, such as in "Upright Motive No 9" (1979) and "Three Upright Motives" (1979-80).

"Rocks," Moore said then, "show the hacked, hewn treatment of stone and have a jagged, nervous block rhythm."

A feature of his work is the hole in the figure, which allows the free flow of sun and air through the sculpture, thus helping the sculpture merge into its setting.

The hole, which makes an incomplete human figure, can be seen as a rebellion against the Christian doctrines and aesthetics of completeness and balance.

It's joked that Moore's "love" of holes can be credited to his family - he was the son of a miner in a small town in North England, who was used to looking at the world through mine holes.

Moore inherited from his parents a strong mind and body and a never-ending desire for a higher social status.

After several years at a grammar school, Moore went to fight in France during World War I.

When the war ended, he attended Leeds Arts School on an ex-serviceman's grant.
After graduation Moore chose three themes - mother and son, forms, and reclining figures. For the rest of his life his sculptures were variations on these themes.

From the 1920s on, Moore was influenced by modern artistic trends in Europe such as surrealism. The influences led to the transformation of his style from the figurative to semi-abstract and to his strong position in modern art history.

Unlike Van Gogh, who, after witnessing every possible torture in life, died in poverty and madness, Henry Moore had a happy family, a good reputation and a lot of money during his lifetime.

He was respected as the father of modern British sculpture and had dozens of exhibitions around the world before he died.

In his will he donated his manor to the Henry Moore Foundation for young sculptors.
While Van Gogh's life may have tasted as bitter as a tear, Henry Moore's seems to have been as perfect as a tear.

Date: 10/19/2000
Author: YANG YINGSHI and WANG SHANSHAN, China Daily staff
Copyright? by China Daily

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