Dr Chris Owen: Drawing in the Dark: Henry Moore’s Coalmining Commission

Speaker: Dr Chris Owen

Henry Moore was acclaimed as one of the World’s leading sculptors of the C20th, most famous for his stone and bronze depictions of the female form, and abstract sculptures, which still grace the plazas of many major cities. He was also a renowned draughtsman. He made highly expressive drawings of Londoners sheltering from the Blitz, and, less well-known, he spent two weeks sketching underground at Wheldale Colliery in Castleford, Yorkshire, where his father had worked as a miner. This illustrated talk is based on Owen’s recently published book, Drawing in the Dark: Henry Moore’s Coalmining Commission, and the accompanying exhibition, held at St Albans Museum and Gallery, and The Danum, Doncaster.

Chris Owen studied History of Art at Cambridge before a career in education. From 2011-19, he was Head of Cambridge School of Art at Anglia Ruskin University, and recently published Drawing in the Dark: Henry Moore’s Coalmining Commission.

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