Large Totem head, 1968, near intersection of Snuff Mill Road and Azalea Way.

The New York Botanical Garden will host the largest outdoor exhibition of Henry Moore’s sculpture ever presented in a single venue in the United States. The collection of approximately 20 major pieces will open at the New York Botanical Garden on May 24. These magnificent works will be positioned throughout the garden’s 250 acres and among its 50 garden and plant collections; it will remain on view through November 2.

Henry Moore, born in 1898 in Castleford, Yorkshire, is one of the worlds’ best known and most beloved Twentieth Century sculptors. Moore’s first solo show of sculpture was held in London in 1928. In 1943 he received a commission from the Church of St Matthew, Northampton, UK, to carve “Madonna and Child,” the first in an important series of family group sculptures. Moore was given his first major retrospective outside of England by the Museum of Modern Art, New York City, in 1946. He won the International Prize for Sculpture at the Venice Biennale of 1948.

“Hill Arches,†1973, on the main lawn in front of the library building near tulip tree allee.

The Henry Moore Foundation is collaborating with the New York Botanical Garden and the Atlanta Botanical Garden to mount this exhibition in America.

Henry Moore intended that his monumental works of sculpture be presented in expansive landscapes so that their mass and size could be seen from many angles, in great variety of light and in differing seasons. He wanted people to get up close and touch them. The New York Botanical Garden fits his intent perfectly, with the appropriate scale and beauty to complement the sculptures.

Henry Moore, “Draped Reclining Mother and Baby,†1983. Photo by Anita Feldman. Reproduced by permission of The Henry Moore Foundation.

One of the finest botanical gardens in the world, the New York Botanical Garden offers outdoor venues for the exhibition, including the vicinity surrounding the landmark Enid A. Haupt Conservatory, the Beaux-Arts library building with its expansive lawns and a cathedral-like tulip tree alee, two spectacular conifer collections and one of the finest rose gardens in America.

The exhibition will travel to Atlanta’s botanical garden, where it will be on view in 2009.

The New York Botanical Garden is at the Bronx River Parkway (Exit 7W) and Fordham Road. For information, www.nybg.org or 718-817-8700.