Henry Moore Comes Home, a new exhibition of prints by Henry Moore, one of the best-loved UK artists of the 20th century, opened at the British Council’s headquarters in London on 1 December 2015.
Henry Moore Comes Home builds on the two-year tour of another exhibition, Henry Moore – the Printmaker that previously visited Serbia where it was on display at the National Museum in Belgrade from 11 September – 31 October 2014, and at the Museum of Vojvodina from 11 – 30 November 2014.
During the tour to Serbia and six other countries, Henry Moore – the Printmaker was seen by a total of 80,000 people, and revealed personal stories of local artists, curators, visitors and museums that have been influenced by Henry Moore over the past seven decades. Henry Moore Comes Home explores the artist’s enduring international influence, as well as the main themes that can be found in Henry Moore’s graphics and sculpture.
Henry Moore’s comeback to Serbia
Henry Moore arrived in Belgrade in late March 1955 to set up his first big solo exhibition in the Balkans. Moore’s visit was regarded as a move by the Communist government towards loosening ideological constraints on the arts, and prompted local artists to adopt more liberal and abstract forms in their work.
"…a world-class event … it encouraged the artistic rebirth and strengthened the liberties achieved between 1950 and 1954."
– Miodrag B. Protić, the founder of the Museum of Modern Art in Belgrade.
Six decades later, ‘Henry Moore – the Printmaker’ introduced a new generation to the artist’s work in two museums in Serbia. We took this photograph at 00:23, when Moore’s prints and maquettes arrived under armed police guard to the National Museum.
Shared on Facebook early next morning, the image went viral: 107,000 people saw it within 24 hours, and the most visited news portal in Serbia and the biggest commercial TV station immediately reported on it. An exclusive tweet-up event at the National Museum amplified the buzz by reaching more than 230,000 Twitter accounts in Serbia with hashtag #HenriMur.
