I have contributed a chapter “Analogies of art and science” to the book Henry Moore: Monumental Nature. In it I write about three analogies: human and tree, artist and biologist, artist and God.
The first analogy is one that Moore draws in his work, in tree-like humans and human-like trees. The second analogy thinks about how the work of both Moore and a biologist go from concrete objects to abstraction and back to the concrete. In the third analogy I compare Moore’s sculptures to the beautiful nano-machines found in living cells. Drawing on Socrates’ conversations with Aristodemus, I conclude:
“The artistry inherent in the construction of these natural molecular machines is magnified by the extraordinary precision required for their biochemical functions. The slightest alterations would strip them of vitality (a term Moore refers to constantly when talking about his work) leaving them inert and purposeless. How much more intricate and refined these living structures are than even Moore’s greatest creations, though at times his art seems to anticipate them. Like Aristodemus I turn again from motionless images to the active machines of life and admit they are the masterpieces of “some great Artificer”.
The book is distributed by Kew Publishing in the UK and by University of Chicago Press in the USA. It accompanies the Henry Moore: Monumental Nature exhibition at Kew Gardens (9 May 2026 to 31 January 2027).