Henry Moore
John Hedgecoe
Life Story
Although Hedgecoe dated this photograph as 1952, Julia Hedgecoe, who had introduced the sculptor and photographer, said their first meeting did not take place until 1956. [1] As aspiring photographers, Julia Mardon (later Hedgecoe) and John Hedgecoe visited the well-known sculptor. Already well-established in his career, Moore frequently had visitors seeking him out, and often made time for young art students. Hedgecoe was invited back again the day after their first visit to take photographs of Moore’s works, which Moore decided to include in an exhibition of his work. The two soon became firm friends spending every weekend together and going on holiday together each year.
In total, Hedgecoe took around 6,000 photographs of Moore. [2] In some of his photography manuals Hedgecoe used his images of the sculptor as an example of how to take a prolonged portrait of a single subject. [3] As Hedgecoe explained, with photography ‘you capture forever a frozen instant of time. But how much more meaningful those images can be is made plain when you see a progression of pictures of the same person taken over a long period of time.’ [4]
His photographs of Moore formed the basis of four books, which incorporated Hedgecoe’s photographs alongside Moore’s words. Although he produced around 30 photography manuals, these were Hedgecoe’s only books on a single subject.
A second version of this image is in the Sainsbury Centre collection, although with a closer crop, which is object number 50283.
Tania Moore, January 2021
[1] In conversation with Tania Moore, January 2020.
[2] As estimated by Charlotte Bullions and Emily Unthank at the Henry Moore Foundation, 2020.
[3] John Hedgecoe, Photographing People (New York: Alfred A. Knopf, 1980), p.56.
[4] Ibid.
Exhibitions
'Artists Portraits: Photographs by John Hedgecoe', Sainsbury Centre, UK, 21/6/2011 - 11/12/2011
Further Reading
John Hedgecoe and Henry Moore, Henry Spencer Moore (Nashville, TN: Thomas Nelson, 1968)
John Hedgecoe and Henry Moore, Henry Moore: Energy in Space (Munich: Bruckmann, 1973)
John Hedgecoe and Henry Moore, Henry Moore: My Ideas, Inspiration and Life as an Artist (London: Ebury Press, 1986)
John Hedgecoe, A Monumental Vision: The Sculpture of Henry Moore (London: Collins & Brown, 1998)
Tania Moore, ‘Portrait of a Friendship: John Hedgecoe’s Henry Moore’ in Henry Moore: Friendships and Legacies (Norwich: Sainsbury Centre, 2020)
Not on display
Title/Description: Henry Moore
Artist/Maker: John Hedgecoe
Born: 1956
Object Type: Photograph
Materials: Photograph
Measurements: 515 x 415mm (framed)
Accession Number: 50271
Production Place: Britain, England, Europe
Credit Line: Donated by the Hedgecoe family