Henry Moore Comes Home is an exhibition of prints by Henry Moore, one of the best-loved UK artists of the 20th century, opened at the British Council’s headquarters in London on 1 December 2015.
Henry Moore Comes Home builds on the two-year tour of another exhibition, Henry Moore – the Printmaker that previously visited North Macedonia where it was on display at the Museum of Contemporary Art in Skopje from 18 April – 31 May 2013.
During the tour to North Macedonia and six other countries, Henry Moore – the Printmaker was seen by a total of 80,000 people, and revealed personal stories of local artists, curators, visitors and museums that have been influenced by Henry Moore over the past seven decades. Henry Moore Comes Home explores the artist’s enduring international influence, as well as the main themes that can be found in Henry Moore’s graphics and sculpture.
Petar Hadži Boškov, 1928 - 2015
In 1955, the first ever exhibition by Henry Moore was displayed at the National Gallery of North Macedonia. This was a revelation for a young sculptor, Petar Hadži Boškov, who saw the exhibition and was inspired to move away from traditional academicism to modernist sculptural forms. In the next couple of years Hadži Boškov worked on abstract organic forms inspired by Hans Arp and Henry Moore, which resulted in his first solo exhibition in Skopje in 1959.
The same year, he studied in London under the British Council postgraduate scholarship programme. His UK stay was so prolific that a year later, in 1960, Henry Moore himself opened Petar’s solo exhibition at the Grabowski Gallery in London. This was the first showcasing of Macedonian sculpture in the UK.
After his UK stay, Petar returned to North Macedonia and became a member of the artistic circle called Mugri, assembling some of the most acclaimed Macedonian artists of the time. Hadži Boškov was an artistic innovator who introduced new perspectives and artistic solutions, some of which have driven the evolution of the Macedonian modern sculpture.
