Where can you find not one Henry Moore sculpture, but two? In Vela Luka, of all places.
The picturesque town of Vela Luka on the island of Korčula is not only well known as the hometown of famous Croatian singers such as Oliver Dragojević and Jasna Zlokić, but is home to many other artists and pieces of art itself, among which lie two sculptures of the famous English artist, Henry Moore.Henry Moore was an English artist and is best knowm for his semi-abstract, monumental bronze sculptures which are located around the world as public works of art.
His work was usually encompassed by abstractions of the human figure, usually mothers and children, or reclining figures that some connect to the landscape and rolling hills of Yorkshire where he was born.
He became extremely wealthy later in life and most of the money he earned went to Henry Moore Foundation, which supports education and the promotion of arts.
The two Moore sculptures are part of the donated international collection in the Cultural Centre in Vela Luka. This collection was put together after many donations arrived to Vela Luka from both Croatian and international artists after the town was hit by a tidal wave in the summer of 1978. Vela Luka’s two Moore sculptures are otherwise the only two works from the artist here in Croatia.
The aforementioned cultural centre in the town centre acts as both a museum and a gallery. as well as a library, and is located next to the parish church of St. Joseph. The cultural centre houses valuable museum collections; the archaeological collection, the donated international collection of drawings, graphics and small sculptures, and the collection of ship models carved into wood.
One particularly interesting collection is that of the wooden model ships, created by the late Nedjeljko Gigić Kotarc, a self-educated carver from Vela Luka who carved them into olive wood for decades and left them as a legacy to future generations, and to his native town.
The lobby of the centre and some other locations in town have parts of abstract mosaic compositions done back in 1968 for the very first international gathering of artists in Vela Luka.
If you’re planning on paying Korčula a visit this summer and you just happen to be a Moore fan, Vela Luka should most definitely be on your list.
SOURCE (text and photos): Cultural Centre Vela Luka, TZ Vela Luka, tate.org
