Spontaneous delight

Henry Moore Textiles
The Sheep Field Barn, Hoglands, Perry Green, Hertfordshire, until 18 October

Hoglands, the former home of Henry Moore (1898–1986) near Much Hadham in Hertfordshire, was looking radiant on the late-summer day I visited it. The Foundation that Moore set up to care for his estate and reputation acquired the house from his family in 2004 and began restoring it. It gleams today probably more than it ever did when lived in, but a marvellous array of furniture and fittings, art and artefacts (including the original bottles of drink offered by HM to his visitors) ensures that the place still seems more of a home and less of a museum. The ground floor is open to the public and may be viewed under careful supervision.

The building is a late-medieval hall house that was divided into two cottages in the 19th century. The Moores started by renting half of it in 1940, bought the entirety the following year and turned it back into a single dwelling. Moore had no agent or dealer as such, so prospective clients came to him, and, as he became increasingly celebrated, he needed more space in which to entertain guests. In 1960 he built on a large sitting room for this purpose, and it remains the main room of the house, with a welcoming, friendly atmosphere. Here the visitor may gauge the extent of Moore’s own collecting interests from the pictures on the walls — which include Courbet, Vuillard and Renoir — and the multitude of objects on every surface and displayed on shelves. His own sculptures mingle with Cycladic or Pre-Columbian figures: everywhere there is something to surprise or gratify the eye.

I’m always curious to know what pictures artists choose to live with.