cover image In Irina's Garden, with Henry Moore's Sculpture

In Irina's Garden, with Henry Moore's Sculpture

Stephen Spender. Thames & Hudson, $29.95 (127pp) ISBN 978-0-500-23458-7

Very heavy stock, large typeface, pretty pictures and fragmentary text are the familiar components of yet another well-produced edition in the Henry Moore hagiography. In the photographer's preface, a short reminiscence by Spender and a brief interview with the artist's wife Irina, the myth of Moore as ordinary/extraordinary sculptortimeless, classless, quintessentially English yet universal geniusis told once again. No match for Picasso's Latin loves, an exotic and tempestuous series of muses, Irina Moore nevertheless fulfills a similar function in this artist-hero's story: she is the quiet, unassuming but steady and affirming helpmate tending her own very English garden as a setting for his art. Among the 101 illustrations (63 in color) are some nice pictures of their home at Much Hadham in Hertfordshire, Moore sculptures in a garden setting, andbest of allMoore drawings of trees. First serial to House & Garden. (June 30)