An expert's guide to sculpture: five must-read books on the art of the three dimensional

Henry Moore's Large Figure in a Shelter (1985-86) Photo: Min Young Lim
This summer, the Henry Moore Institute in Leeds will reopen after a significant refurbishment, the first in its 30-year history. The institution was founded to preserve the legacy of Henry Moore (1898-1986) as well as to promote sculpture more widely. The first exhibitions at the revamped institution will be by a solo show of the Australian sculptor Hany Armanious and a display of Hew Locke and Mary Thornycroft, followed by a survey of Surrealist sculpture in the autumn. Below, the head of the Henry Moore Institute, Laurence Sillars, has selected five of the best books about sculpture.
“While Henry Moore’s work may be well known, this book delves more or less into everything there is to know about the man himself. His consideration of sculpture throughout history, of other artists and his benevolence—which ultimately led to the creation of the Henry Moore Institute along with the Henry Moore Foundation Grants programme—is inspiring.”
Nicholas Mangan's Proposition for Dowiyogo’s Ancient Coral Coffee Table, (2009) is on show at the Museum of Contemporary Art Australia © the artist; Photo: Zan Wimberley
“This catalogue to accompany the timely exhibition at the Museum of Contemporary Art Australia is essential reading on one of today’s most engaging practitioners of expanded sculpture. Nicholas Mangan’s work responds to many of our most urgent situations, not least humanity’s relationship with the natural world and its connections to the global political economy.”
“Senga Nengudi had a solo exhibition at the Henry Moore Institute in 2018 and this catalogue from her larger exhibition at Lenbachhaus in Munich the following year is invaluable. Nengudi redefined the possibilities of sculpture and was a trailblazer in Los Angeles and New York in the 1960s and 1970s. Her persistently radical experimentation with material (sand, water, nylon tights) and form resulted in sculptures embedded with human, philosophical and spiritual concern.”
“This invaluable accompaniment to the Met’s 2022 exhibition Fictions of Emancipation: Carpeaux Recast is a far-reaching reflection on the Black figure in 19th-century sculpture. Revelatory in its consideration of race and representation at the time, several essays are also illuminating in their consideration of the implications of such debates in recent sculpture.”
“The Traumatic Surreal is a significant study exploring the pioneering contributions of German-speaking women artists working within Surrealist traditions and in response to the trauma and legacies of the Second Word War. It examines works across writing, film, music and art, and is enriching in its consideration of the work of several sculptors, including Meret Oppenheim and Birgit Jürgenssen. Allmer is curating an exhibition at the Henry Moore Institute later in the year to coincide with the centenary of Surrealism.”
• Hany Armanious: Stone Soup and Sculpting Royalty: Hew Locke and Mary Thornycroft, Henry Moore Institute, Leeds, 12 July-3 November

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