Bucolic pleasures

It’s tempting to think we know everything about Henry Moore (1898–1986), household name that he is. As early as the 1950s, Percy Cudlipp was composing satirical ditties for magazines like Punch with rousing first lines such as ‘Don’t do any more, Mr Moore’, which suggests an over-familiarity perhaps bordering on satiety. But it’s all too easy to shoot down a leviathan — the most miserable shot can hardly miss. It’s far more profitable to consider Moore’s strengths and look at some of his real and substantial achievements. One of these was to make large-scale sculpture that looked at its best in the landscape.

Moore always maintained that sculpture was an art of the open air. He once said in an interview, ‘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.’ Architects, who so often resent sculptors cluttering up their pristine spaces, would no doubt agree. Now a superb temporary setting is offered for 28 of Moore’s large-scale sculptures — Kew Gardens. The great thing will be to see the sculptures against the changing backdrop of the seasons. As autumn gets into its stride, where better to go than Kew for a walk on a crisp morning? And if we are blessed with snow this winter, I’ve no doubt that the sculptures will look different again in an open white context. It almost makes one want to buy a season ticket.

The gardens are large, covering more than 300 acres of very different types of country, but the sculptures have been concentrated around the Victoria Gate and the Main Gate, within relatively easy ambling distance. The suggested visit time is two to three hours, but this estimate is generous. You can get a good idea of the display in an hour, though it’s obviously more relaxing to have longer to spend wandering in such delightful surroundings.