SALON

Thursday, Nov 8, 2012 10:15 PM UTC

London mayor opposes sale of Henry Moore sculpture

By

Topics: From the Wires,

London mayor opposes sale of Henry Moore sculptureFILE - In this June. 3, 1996 file photo of Henry Moore's sculpture "Draped, Seated Woman". A cash-strapped authority in east London says it's selling a valuable Henry Moore statue over the objections of leading British arts figures including director Danny Boyle. London's Tower Hamlets Council said late Wednesday, Nov. 7, 2012, that "Draped Seated Woman," which stood for years on a public housing complex in the city's East End, would be sold "due to the massive government cuts we are facing." (AP Photo/PA, File) UNITED KINGDOM OUT NO SALES NO ARCHIVE (Credit: AP)

LONDON (AP) — The mayor of London on Thursday urged a cash-strapped local government not to sell an iconic Henry Moore sculpture that once stood in one of the city’s poorest areas.

Entering a dispute that pits the value of art against the cold realities of austerity Britain, Mayor Boris Johnson said it would be “a tragedy” if “Draped Seated Woman” was not on public display.

But authorities in Tower Hamlets — one of the poorest of London’s 32 boroughs — say they have no choice but to sell the artwork to help make up for funding cuts.

Tower Hamlets Mayor Lutfur Rahman said the decision to sell was made reluctantly, “but I have a duty to ensure residents do not suffer from the brunt of the horrendous cuts being imposed on us.”

All levels of government are facing cuts as Prime Minister David Cameron’s administration slashes billions in spending in a bid to curb the national deficit. Tower Hamlets Council says it must make 100 million pounds ($160 million) in savings by 2015.

Estimates of the sculpture’s value range from 5 million pounds to 20 million pounds ($8 million to $32 million).

Arts figures including Moore’s daughter Mary and “Slumdog Millionaire” director Danny Boyle have led a campaign to keep the sculpture in public hands, and the Museum of London has offered to house it.

Moore, one of Britain’s best-known 20th-century artists, sold the sculpture to the council’s predecessor in 1960 for a token price in order to enrich the lives of the area’s poorer residents.

The bronze sculpture, nicknamed “Old Flo,” stood for years on a public housing complex in the borough. When the project was torn down it was moved in 1997 to a sculpture park in northern England.

Johnson said Moore had intended the sculpture “for the benefit of local people in Tower Hamlets.”

“It will be a tragedy if nothing can be done to ensure it goes back on public display in the borough as originally intended,” he said.

More Jill Lawless.

Next Article

Related Stories

More Related Stories

Featured Slide Shows

The week in 10 pics

close X
  • Share on Twitter
  • Share on Facebook
  • Thumbnails
  • Fullscreen
  • 1 of 11
  • Lisa Montgomery embraces her nephew Thursday after a tornado tore apart her home in Cleburne, Texas. The twister killed six people and destroyed entire swaths of the North Texas town.
    Credit: AP/LM Otero

  • Jack McMahon, the defense attorney for abortion doctor Kermit Gosnell, speaks outside the Criminal Justice Center in Philadelphia Tuesday. His client was convicted of killing three babies in his clinic, and will serve multiple life sentences.
    Credit: AP/Matt Rourke

  • A photo taken Monday captures Vice President Joe Biden's response to a Milwaukee second-grader's innovative proposal to end America's epidemic of gun violence. This guy!
    Credit: AP/Jenny Aicher

  • Sen. Rand Paul, R-Ky., flanked by a grouper-eyed Michele Bachmann, addresses the IRS' admission that it targeted Tea Party groups in advance of the 2012 election. In an op-ed for CNN Thursday, the Kentucky senator slammed the president for his faux outrage.
    Credit: AP/Molly Riley

  • Ousted IRS chief Steven Miller is sworn in on Capitol Hill Friday. Miller testified before the House Ways and Means Committee on the extra scrutiny the agency gave conservative groups applying for tax-exempt status.
    Credit: AP/J. Scott Applewhite

  • Attorney General Eric Holder pauses as he testifies on Capitol Hill before the House Judiciary Committee Wednesday. Holder is under fire, among other things, for the Justice Department's gathering of phone records at the Associated Press.
    Credit: AP/Carolyn Kaster

  • O.J. Simpson sits during an evidentiary hearing at Clark County District Court in Las Vegas, Nev., Thursday. Simpson, who is currently serving a nine-to-33-year sentence in state prison for armed robbery and kidnapping, is using a writ of habeas corpus to seek a new trial.
    Credit: AP/Las Vegas Review-Journal/Jeff Scheid

  • Major Tom to ground control: On Sunday astronaut Chris Hadfield recorded the first music video from space, a cover of David Bowie's "Space Oddity."
    Credit: AP/NASA/Chris Hadfield

  • When it rains it pours. President Barack Obama speaks during a news conference Thursday with Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan, inexplicably inspiring an #umbrellagate Twitter meme.
    Credit: AP/Jacquelyn Martin

  • A smoke plume rises high above a road block at the intersection of County A and Ross Road east of Solon Springs, Wis., Tuesday. No injuries were reported, but the the wildfire caused evacuations across northwestern Wisconsin.
    Credit: AP/The Duluth News-Tribune/Clint Austin

  • Recent Slide Shows

  • Share on Twitter
  • Share on Facebook
  • Thumbnails
  • Fullscreen
  • 1 of 11

Related Videos

Comments

 0 Comments

Comment Preview

Your name will appear as username

You may use these HTML tags and attributes: <a href=""> <b> <em> <strong> <i> <blockquote>

follow salon

Most Read

Popular on Reddit

links from salon.com

From Around the Web

Presented by Scribol
listener_new_rect The Listener: So long, Sookie Stackhouse

Recommendations