Henry Moore: Drawing in the Dark

Drawing in the Dark is the largest exhibition to date of Moore’s coalmining drawings, completed in 1942 for the War Artists’ Advisory Committee.

When Moore was asked to record the coalminers working to power wartime Britain, he chose to visit the mine his father had worked in, Wheldale Colliery in Castleford.  He spent a week there drawing from observation, and subsequently worked from memory to create the remaining drawings which were all completed within six months.

This fascinating body of work reveals the back-breaking labour endured by nearly 3/4 million miners as they made their vital contribution to Britain’s war effort, while also providing new insights into Moore’s life and artistic process.

Curated by University of Hertfordshire Arts + Culture programme, the exhibition takes inspiration from the new book, Drawing in the Dark by art historian, Chris Owen. The exhibition was first shown in the subterranean Weston Gallery of St Albans Museum + Gallery and moves to Danum Gallery, Library and Museum in May 2023.