An exhibition based on Henry Moore: War and Utility, shown in the Sheep Field Barn gallery, Perry Green in 2001-02, opened at the Imperial War Museum, London in 2006. The selection, chosen by Roger Tolson, Keeper of Art at the IWM, in consultation with the curatorial team at Perry Green, included many of Moore’s Shelter and Coalmining drawings in the context of his sculpture, graphics and textiles produced between 1939 and 1954.

It showed the historical context in which the changes and developments in Moore’s work came about. Some of the events which influenced him during the period were personal, for example his move from London to Perry Green in 1940 and the birth in 1946 of his daughter Mary; others, such as the Festival of Britain in 1951, were national; while others again, most significantly the Second World War, were international.

Each was to have its effect on what Moore made and how he made it. Also significant was his experimentation with new materials and processes, or those he had made little use of earlier - terracotta, plaster, concrete and bronze casting - as well as lithography, collographic printing and textile design.