In 1977, the AGO purchased one of its first-ever photographs. This acquisition brought together the work of two icons of contemporary art: Henry Moore and Arnold Newman. After receiving a generous donation of 101 sculptures, 57 drawings and 150 prints from Moore in the early 1970s, and opening the Henry Moore Sculpture Centre, it made perfect sense for the AGO to purchase a photograph of Moore taken by Newman, one the most renowned portrait photographers in the world. AGO curator Maia Sutnik led this pivotal acquisition, which helped pave the way for the AGO’s photography department to officially form in 2000.

Newman’s Henry Moore (collage), Much Hadham, England is an environmental or integrative portrait – a style the photographer is often credited with popularizing. This approach aims to represent the subject by incorporating elements of their lived environment into the portrait. Newman would meticulously arrange his sitter’s home or workplace to distill their occupation or interests. Informed by extensive research about his subjects, he built each composition by organizing objects in the foreground and background, as well as situating subjects in distinct poses.

In this photograph, Moore’s profile is featured in the centre right. In the foreground, Moore’s large elmwood sculpture Reclining Figure commands most of the frame, with a U-shaped curve providing an ideal spot for Newman to place his sitter. Arranging portraits that incorporate artists directly within their own artwork is a stylistic approach Newman often used.  For this portrait of Moore, he constructed a collage of abstracted sculptural forms, creating a unique boarder. Many of Newman’s studies of his subjects spanned a period of several years, allowing him to create more of a chronology of images rather than photographs from a single shoot. He photographed Moore a total of four times between 1947 and 1978. Though this main portrait was created in 1966, the collage elements in the background actually come from a sitting Newman had with American painter Adolph Gottlieb in 1970.     

A vinyl reproduction of Arnold Newman’s 1966 portrait of Henry Moore is currently on view in the Henry Moore Centre on Level 2 of the AGO. Though this reproduction uses the same portrait that was incorporated into Newman’s collage, it is sourced from a separate print in the AGO Collection. This year, the AGO celebrated the Centre’s 50th anniversary. A landmark of modern art and architecture, in recognition of the Centre’s enduring legacy, the City of Toronto proclaimed November 13, 2024, Henry Moore Day. You can learn more about Moore’s connection to the AGO, his love of Toronto, and his monumental impact on modern art here.