bonbah

Yesterday despite the Easter sleet and snow we ventured out to Kew Gardens with our friends Jon and Jan to see the Henry Moore sculptures. Already having been to Kew and already being semi-familiar with Henry Moore, I had a pretty set idea in my head of what we would see. What I hadn’t counted on was how stunning the two would be together. There was something really magical about the combination of the majestic, curving solidity of the sculptures and the elegant, Englishness of the gardens and Victorian greenhouses.

We watched a short film created mostly from Henry Moore’s own journal entries and discussions and he described how he saw the sculptures as existing in the natural landscape and not in an urban or museum setting. Some he even created specifically for sheep to enjoy. The sculptures are also really interesting to photograph (as you can see from my Flickr set), not just in this temporary setting, but for the shapes and forms and contrasts they create within themselves. Looking at my photos, it looks like we were the only people there but in fact the gardens were quite full and it was really nice to see whole families out together on Easter trudging round the gardens in the cold to see these magnificent sculptures.

Unfortunately the sculptures are only at Kew until the end of the week but I’m really interested to see how they are in their permanent homes. Hmmm, I feel a road trip coming on…