London's War: The Shelter Drawings of Henry Moore

During the early part of World War II, Henry Moore had to give up working on sculpture when his Hampstead studio was bombed. Instead he concentrated on drawing, creating a monumental series of works showing the plight of people sheltering in the London Underground. This work considers Moore's visual documentation of the shelters within the context of the events of the London Blitz of 1940-41. It looks at Moore's personal and political feelings about the coming war and his doubts about working as an Official War Artist, comparing Moore's wartime drawings to works by other artists and to documentary photographs. In addition, the author considers the influence of the Shelter Drawings on people's feelings about the Blitz and their effect on public attitudes towards Moore's work.