“Draped Reclining Mother and Baby,” an abstract piece from 1983 that weighs 4,400 pounds, and “Large Two Forms,” a curvy two-piece installation that totals 6,000 pounds, will be on display from March 8 until Jan. 31, 2011.
“This is our largest exhibit. We’ve never had anything of this magnitude, ever,” said the gardens’ spokesman, Will Jones. “Henry Moore is by far the biggest thing we’ve ever done. … This is his last showing in the United States before it goes back to England.”
Moore’s sculptures have been on a U.S. gardens tour since May 2008. The pieces were transported from their most recent installation in Atlanta, and moving the dauntingly massive sculptures was no easy task.
“The challenge was huge. That ‘Large Two Forms’ is 12 feet (tall),” said Matt Sawyer, whose Wheat Ridge-based transport company facilitated the large-scale move.
There were a few close calls as the semis passed under low bridges, Sawyer said of the three-day journey. High winds on Kansas highways and heavy rain in Missouri also made traveling difficult with such huge cargo, he added.
By Emile Hallez Williams
Columbine Courier
