Henry Moore Institute — Attraction in Leeds

I've always associated Henry Moore with funny looking things with holes in the middle, so despite living and working in Leeds City centre for some years, I'd always given the Henry Moore Imstitute a miss. But I was intrigued by the title of their current exhibition on colour in Victorian sculpture so I decided to venture inside and have a look - it's free. I was pleasantly surprised. A nice Goldilocks sized exhibition, worth seeing without taking brain or legs. It was about the introduction of colour into sculpture, heretical to classicist who thought (wrongly) that all statues should be in white marble like the ancient Greeks and Romans. It was also slanted to how other ethnicities were represented. So worth a visit (ends end-Feb 2023). Nice cafe next door in the central library and art gallery (also...

Henry Moore Institute tends to be a professional art gallery, specialized in Sculpture art, which is more than a general gallery. For some people, the name "Henry Moore" may mislead them it is a museum to exhibit Henry Moore's work, but it is not. Rather, it is established by Henry Moore for the further development of sculpture art. Thus, it is a place for understanding and research of sculpture.

On the first floor, it is normal exhibition for public. Worth a look, but feeling "don't understand", even reading explanation from the nearby notecards, is within expectation. Art needs your interpretation.

What is special here is the research library and archives of Sculpture, on the second floor. It serves for the...

I always find the Henry Moore Institute gallery a let down. The shows that they put on seem lacking. Such a grand building and yet the spaces seem bland and cheaply constructed. It seems most of the money has gone on the furniture and decor of the central front desk that feels more like a corporate waiting room than a place to get help. As you don’t want to interrupt the arty types gossiping behind the desk. All in all it feels more like a posh undertakers than a vibrant and friendly art gallery. Sorry to be so brutal but I have never felt a...