Cavern & Garsdale

Created for the celebrated Auden Portfolio, Garsdale and Cavern demonstrate Henry Moore’s extraordinary ability to translate sculptural thinking into lithography. Published in 1973 to accompany poems by fellow Yorkshireman W. H. Auden, the prints are among the finest graphic works of Moore’s mature career.

Printed in rich black lithography on Hodgkinson wove paper, both compositions rely upon subtle tonal variation rather than defined outline. Garsdale evokes the broad expanses and weathered geology of the Yorkshire Dales through dense accumulations of textured mark-making, while Cavern explores a mysterious enclosed space whose dramatic voids echo the pierced forms that became central to Moore’s sculpture.

Although produced for a literary publication, these are not conventional illustrations. Moore responds to landscape through the eyes of a sculptor, transforming hillsides, rock formations and underground spaces into monumental abstract forms that stand independently as complete works of art.

Each lithograph is signed by the artist in pencil and recorded in the definitive Henry Moore: Catalogue of Graphic Work. Offered together as a carefully matched pair, they provide an excellent opportunity to acquire works from one of Moore’s most admired graphic projects.

Research & Institutional References

Catalogue Raisonné

Both lithographs are fully recorded in Henry Moore: Catalogue of Graphic Work, Volume II (Cramer, Grant & Mitchinson) as CGM 246 (Garsdale) and CGM 248 (Cavern).

Institutional Collections

Impressions from the Auden Portfolio are represented in major public collections including the Henry Moore Foundation, Tate and the British Museum.

Historical Context

Published in 1973 by Petersburg Press and printed by Curwen Prints Ltd., the Auden Portfolio brought together the work of Henry Moore and the poetry of W. H. Auden, creating one of the most celebrated collaborations between British art and literature of the post-war period.