The Shelter Drawings in Context

Join Rebecca Newell and Sebastiano Barassi for an evening of talks and conversation on the subject of Henry Moore’s ‘Shelter Drawings’, and the wider context of artists making work in response to wartime conditions.

Sebastiano and Rebecca will discuss two newly opened exhibitions: The Shelter Drawings 1940-1941 at the Henry Moore Studios & Gardens, and Beauty and Destruction: Wartime London in Art at IWM London.

The speakers will offer insights into Moore’s wartime practice, the role of the War Artists’ Advisory Committee, and the social history of London’s underground shelters.

About the speakers

Rebecca Newell has been IWM’s Head of Art since 2017, working on all aspects related to the care, display and interpretation of the pre-eminent art collection. She is responsible for IWM’s art commissioning programme, and was lead curator for the Blavatnik Art, Film and Photography Galleries. Opened in 2023, the galleries represent the first time in IWM’s history that a permanent, dedicated space has been created to explore visual art, photography and film in sustained dialogue.

Sebastiano Barassi is the Head of Henry Moore Collections & Programmes at the Henry Moore Foundation in Hertfordshire, where he regularly curates exhibitions and contributes to publications about Henry Moore and 20th-century sculpture.