Saved for the public, but the Yorkshire holiday is over for Henry Moore’s Old Flo

Henry Moore's 'Draped seated woman',at Yorkshire Sculpture Park

SHE TOOK refuge in Yorkshire after being made homeless and became the focus of a legal row that had major implications for art in the public realm.

Now Henry Moore’s much-loved sculpture Draped Seated Woman, or Old Flo as she is more affectionately known, could be heading back to East London - where the art world seems to agree she belongs.

The large bronze, created by the Castleford-born sculptor in 1957, has been in the care of Yorkshire Sculpture Park (YSP) since 1997, when the Stifford Estate in Tower Hamlets, where she had resided since 1962, was demolished, leaving her without a home.

In 2012, Old Flo was placed under the media spotlight when then-Mayor of Tower Hamlets, Lutfur Rahman, announced he planned to sell the £20m sculpture to the highest bidder in an attempt to offset £100m of budget cuts.

Old Flo could soon be back in Tower Hamlets, east London.
Picture: Johnny Green/PA Wire — Old Flo could soon be back in Tower Hamlets, east London. Picture: Johnny Green/PA Wire

The decision sparked outcry from the art world and beyond, fearing the piece would end up in a private collection, out of the eyes of the public - and set a precedent of cash-strapped local authorities selling public art.

Campaigners unearthed evidence querying its true ownership, paving the way for a judicial review and a High Court battle.

Nearby Bromley Council claimed rights over the sculpture, which delayed the sale, and today as Tower Hamlets was declared the owner, Bahman’s successor, new mayor John Biggs announced the sale was officially off - much to the delight of campaigners.