This print is a cover for the programme of a short play written by Moore entitled Narayāna and Bhataryān, which was dedicated to the memory of Rupert Brooke, the English poet who died of fever during the war. For this Oriental fantasy, first performed at Castleford Grammar School in 1920, Moore’s school friend Albert Wainwright designed the costumes and was both stage director and producer; another friend, Arthur Dalby, was secretary, and Alice Gostick was general manager. Moore took the male lead, his sister Mary the female, and his former headmaster, Thomas Dawes, a minor role. For the programme Moore cut a linoleum block, printed in black as a folded cover of lightweight grey-blue wove paper 210 x 265mm, illustrating the eponymous hero and heroine on the front and a medallion head on the back, to create what was his first ‘published’ work.

David Mitchinson, Henry Moore Prints & Portfolios, Cramer, Geneva, 2009.