Lecture

Henry Moore: The Humanity of Urban Spaces in Postwar United States

Wednesday, November 20, 2024
1:00 pm–2:30 pm
Harry and Mildred Remis Auditorium (Auditorium 161) and Online
Ticket Required

Tickets (Member / Nonmember)

In-Person $28 / $35
Livestream $16 / $20

Add to Calendar 2024-11-20 13:00:00 2024-11-20 14:30:00 Henry Moore: The Humanity of Urban Spaces in Postwar United States 11/20/2024, 1-2:30pm Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, 465 Huntington Ave, Boston, MA 02115, USA Museum of Fine Arts, Boston tickets@mfa.org America/New_York public

Henry Moore’s sculpture arrived in the postwar American city at a moment of crisis, experimentation, and contradiction, when the utopian ideal of modernist urbanism enabled a corporate claim to space. Steel and glass towers surrounded by plazas proliferated in the 1950s and ’60s, promising to introduce civic clarity and order. Yet the new architecture was increasingly seen by critics and theorists as inhuman and empty, devoid of life, social utility, and civic value. In New York, Chicago, Philadelphia, Dallas, and other cities, Moore’s first American patrons saw the potential of his work to alter the shape of urban space, invest it with meaning, and reorient the public. Join us for a discussion about how Moore’s abstract sculptures, grounded in nature, landscape, and body, could project an aspirational humanism into the vacant spaces of the modern city.

Christopher Ketcham, art historian

Course Packages

Purchase a ticket package for the full five-session Abstracting Nature: Exploring Georgia O’Keeffe and Henry Moore” course. Please note that this option is not available after the date of the first session.

Captions for the livestream course available by request. Please email access@mfa.org.

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Assistive listening system

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Wheelchair accessible

Ticket Information

To order tickets by phone, call 1-800-440-6975 ($6 processing fee applies); to order in person, visit any MFA ticket desk.

Ticketing Policies

Livestream Tickets

The livestream ticket gives access to a live feed of the event that can be watched remotely. You must be logged in to the account used to purchase the ticket in order to access the livestream on the Video Content page. Please log in at least 5 minutes before the start of the event to test your connection.

Livestream ticket holders must watch the event live; there is no recording of the event available for viewing at a later time.

Bag Checks

All bags are subject to inspection by Museum staff. Backpacks, large bags, all liquids including hand sanitizer and sunscreen, and outside food or drink are not permitted. Exceptions are made for medical or religious needs. All bags are strongly discouraged, and any bags larger than 11” x 15” must be checked in the Coat Room upon entry. Read our full bag check policy.

Sponsors

Supported by the MFA Associates, MFA Senior Associates, and Weekend Guides in honor of Barbara Martin.