henry-moore-sculptural-objects-1949

One of the strongest images from the splendid Schools Print series. In 1945 Barbara Rawnsley embarked on an ambitious project to bring quality contemporary art to the attention of young school children, visually impoverished by the austere and social climate of Post-War Britain. 

With the assistance of the distinguished art historian, Sir Herbert Read, she approached a number of well-known artists of the day to persuade them to create new works which could then be printed on economy paper and sold on to schools at more than affordable prices.

Following the success of the first series, Barbara Rawnsley decided to commission a further series of prints from distinguished European artists, including Piccasso, Leger, Dufy, Braque, Matisse and Henry Moore, all of whom agreed to use new transparent plastic plates (grained like a lithographic plate) specially developed by the printers, W. S. Cowell of Ipswich.

Moore was invited to create a new lithograph in no more than six colours, to be published in an edition of 3000.