Go with the flow

Last November Lutfur Rahman, the independent Mayor of Tower Hamlets, confirmed that the borough intended to sell a Henry Moore sculpture entitled ‘Draped Seated Woman’ (1958–9) that had been historically sited in the borough. Rahman’s reasoning was twofold: the sculpture was too expensive for the council to insure and the money raised from the work’s sale at auction, which could be up to £20 million, would ease the £100 million budget cut that Tower Hamlets is faced with over the next three years.

The announcement elicited a strong protest from the arts lobby. Sir Nicholas Serota, Richard Calvocoressi (the director of the Henry Moore Foundation), Mary Moore (the artist’s daughter) and London 2012 Opening Ceremony artistic director Danny Boyle signed a letter to the Observer asking the council to reconsider, arguing that ‘the presence of the sculpture in Stepney was a demonstration of the post-war belief that everyone, whatever their background, should have access to works of art of the highest quality’. In a separate interview, Boyle added that ‘the Moore sculpture defies all prejudice in people’s minds about one of London’s poorest boroughs’.

The Art Fund has now taken up the fight, disputing legal technicalities of the proposed sale, and the artist Bob and Roberta Smith has staged protests. That Rahman has a controversial reputation adds to the mix. He was elected mayor in 2010 having been sacked by Labour over his alleged links with an Islamic extremist group.

But the back story to the Moore is more complex than the debate has so far allowed. ‘Draped Seated Woman’ was one of about 70 works purchased by the old London County Council in a scheme that ran from 1956 to 1965 and aimed to embellish newly created housing estates and schools with monumental, modernist or quasi-modernist works of art.