STUDIO SPECIAL
BEHIND CLOSED DOORS
WORDS: ZENA ALKAYAT
As the Henry Moore Foundation gears up to re-open the sculptor’s top studio as it was in the 1950s, we uncover a clutch of late masters’ private workspaces that are now open to the public
FRANCIS BACON The artist’s Soho studio has relocated to his native Ireland –
pigment dust, paint rags and all WHERE? Dublin City Gallery, The Hugh Lane, Parnell Square North, Dublin Given his fondness for London’s Soho, you may doubt the authenticity of Francis Bacon’s studio being sited in Dublin’s main city gallery. In fact, it was relocated to Ireland at the tail end of the 1990s, following its donation to the gallery by Bacon’s heir, John Edwards, and recreated as an exact replica of its original. Reassuringly, the move was executed with pinpoint
precision by a team of conservationist and archeologists. The paint-embellished walls, door, ceiling and fl oor were all moved, while the contents of the studio were meticulously transferred – even the dust was reapplied. This level of care means that you can see the room just as it was, with its slashed canvases leaning on walls, piles of photographs, hundreds of books and countless tubes of used paint and brushes. Unruly, and with a sense of halted energy, the studio really is an insight into a brilliant artistic mind.
www.hughlane.ie
HENRY MOORE Explore two sculpture studios crammed with maquettes WHERE? Perry Green, Much Hadham, Hertfordshire
A visit to Perry Green is more than just a peek into the working life of the late, great Henry Moore – it’s a revealing insight into his personal life too. The estate was his home, together with his wife Irina and daughter Mary, for more than 40 years and it has barely changed over the decades. In April, the Henry Moore Foundation is due to unveil a second restored studio in which Moore produced some of his most important mid-career sculptures, including Family Group and Warrior with Shield. Slightly roomier than his working space further down the
estate, the studio has been recreated using photographic archives and houses the sculptures, materials and benches the artist was surrounded by at the time. The original studio is still open to the public and, though remarkably small
38 Artists & Illustrators
PHOTOS: PERRY OGDEN. © THE ESTATE OF FRANCIS BACON; THE HENRY MOORE FOUNDATION
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