Public critical of Tower Hamlets' plan to sell Henry Moore sculpture

 

(NewsPoint) – Public outrage at Tower Hamlets council's plan to sell a prized Henry Moore sculpture has been expressed online as concerns over the safety of 'public art' are heightened.

The mayor of Tower Hamlets, one of the poorest areas of Britain, decided on Wednesday to sell the 8-foot bronze statue "Draped Seated Woman" as the borough council tries to cut a deficit of around £90 million. It is thought that the piece may raise up to £20 million.

Henry Moore, who died in 1986, sold his sculpture to the council in 1962 at a knock-down price on the understanding it would be displayed in the local area, which was notorious for its social deprivation and which had also been heavily bombed during the Second World War. It sat in a public housing project in Stepney Green until 1997 when the project was demolished and it was loaned to a sculpture park in Yorkshire. That such an impressive statue by a internationally revered artist was displayed in such an area made the sculpture priceless, residents have said.

Ian Leith, founder and deputy chairman of the Public Monuments and Sculpture Association, told the Guardian that the high-profile decision means other towns and cities might now be tempted to see artworks simply as financial assets.