 | | ‘Shelter Drawing’ by Henry Moore © Art.IWM ART 17977 |
|
| Henry Moore is most known for his sculptures. His semi-abstract bronzes can be seen all over the world.
But during the Second World War, he was fascinated by ‘tube shelterers’. These were the hundreds of people sleeping underground to take refuge from the bombs above ground during the Blitz.
Beginning on 7 September 1940, the Blitz was an aerial bombing campaign of British cities by the German Air Force, known as the Luftwaffe.
Over nine months, more than 43,500 civilians were killed in the raids. They targeted major cities and industrial centres, including Coventry, Birmingham, Bristol, Sheffield and Manchester.
London was the most heavily hit and the Blitz changed the landscape of the city. Many famous landmarks were hit, including Buckingham Palace, the Houses of Parliament and Imperial War Museum London.
The worst hit places tended to be the poorer districts, like the East End. Some areas, such as Stepney, were so badly damaged that they were almost entirely rebuilt after the war. |
|
|
 | | |  | | ‘Two Women with a Child in a Shelter’ by Henry Moore © Art.IWM ART 17976 |
| |
|
WARTIME LONDON:
ART OF THE BLITZ | You've only got until 12 September to catch this unique art exhibition, now on display at Churchill War Rooms.
See the experiences of the Second World War through the eyes of Henry Moore, Eric Ravilious, Evelyn Gibbs and many more.
Exhibition included in general admission to Churchill War Rooms. | |
|
|
| |
| | |
| | |
|
| As the world above was tumbling down around them, people living in major cities began to head underground to seek safety.
One night in September 1940, held in Belsize Park station due to an air raid, Henry Moore saw this first-hand:
‘I was fascinated by the sight of the people camping out deep under the ground. I had never seen so many reclining figures, and even the train tunnels seemed to be like the holes in my sculpture.’
He saw the mass of people, but also the ‘intimate little touches’ of humanity amongst them. He made it his mission to show others that sense of humanity too through his art. |
|
|
 | | Henry Moore, Sleeping Figures. Reproduced by permission of The Henry Moore Foundation. |
|
| Henry Moore showed some of his drawings to Kenneth Clark. Clark was the chairman of the War Artists’ Advisory Committee (WAAC), which was set up in 1929 to compile a record of the war.
As the bombs rained down on the capital, the WAAC and its artists were eager to get to work documenting the scenes that played out night after night. Some of the WAAC artists even served in the Auxiliary Fire Service - their understanding of the work evident in their art.
Clark was almost moved to tears by Moore’s drawings and asked him to produce a series of drawings documenting people taking shelter in tube stations during the Blitz.
Henry Moore’s ‘Shelter’ series became some of his most popular works. They transformed London’s Blitz masses into enduringly heroic figures.
They are some of the most moving depictions of life during the Blitz.
Wartime London: Art of the Blitz at Churchill War Rooms offers the chance to see drawings from Moore's ‘Shelter’ series. It also showcases works from other British artists, shining a new light on the experiences of ordinary people during the Blitz.
|
|
|
| | | | A BRAND NEW PODCAST | Conflict of Interest is a new podcast series from IWM Institute.
It tackles recent conflicts, from the Northern Ireland "Troubles" to the Iraq War. Each episode has a celebrity guest asking the simple questions about the biggest conflicts of our time.
For episode 1, comedian Deborah Frances-White joins IWM curator Carl Warner and politician Baroness Arminka Helic to unpick the Yugoslav Wars. | |
|
|
| |
| | |
|
|
|
|
|
