Henry Moore: Sculptural Process and Public Identity

In 1951 Henry Moore made his first and only trip to Greece in order to attend the opening of his solo exhibition at the Zappeion Gallery in Athens. During his trip Moore made several visits to the National Museum, where it is likely that he acquired this postcard depicting the broken fragments of a sculpture of a centaur and boy.

The card was sent to Lilian Somerville, director of the Fine Arts Department of the British Council from 1947–70. Somerville did much to promote British contemporary art abroad and in his note Moore discusses the attendance figures for his exhibition (‘Attendance still making records!’). By the time it closed, over 34,000 people had visited the show, a record for any exhibition of contemporary art arranged by the British Council.