Henry Moore: Sculptural Process and Public Identity

Until the mid-1960s no professional art historians or critics had sat on the Board of Trustees of the Tate Gallery. In 1965 this changed with the appointment of Herbert Read, a well-respected critic who had championed the work of Henry Moore and Barbara Hepworth during the 1930s. At the time of his appointment Read was suffering from tongue cancer but despite his illness regularly attended meetings. Following Read’s death on 12 June 1968, Moore, Hepworth, Ben Nicholson and Naum Gabo each donated a work in his honour. This photograph shows Naum Gabo, Moore and Hepworth at the opening of the memorial display of these gifts. In a BBC radio programme broadcast on 12 June 1968 Moore asserted that, although Read had been instrumental in the promotion of modern British art, his greatest achievement was his creative writing; a poem by Read was shown next to his portrait in this photograph.