Henry Moore’s Draped Seated Woman has returned to the East End after taking a 20 year holiday at Yorkshire Sculpture Park.
Purchased in 1962 by the LCC under its ‘Patronage of the Arts Scheme’ where sculptures by leading artists were acquired for housing estates, schools and other public places for the benefit of local people.
Draped Seated Woman was placed on LCC’s Stifford Estate in Stepney, where it gained the nickname ‘Old Flo’ by the residents and where she stayed for 35 years.
The Stifford Estate was an LCC estate built 1958-1961 consisting of three 17 storey towers (Bradmore House, Ewhurst House and Wickham House) each containing 291flats. In 1997 the three tower blocks of the Stifford Estate were due for demolition and ‘Old Flo’ packed her bags for Yorkshire.
‘Old Flo’ is back in Tower Hamlets but now will be gracing Canary Wharf’s Cabot Square until 2022.
If a Henry Moore worth an estimated £20m isn’t enough to entice you to Canary Wharf, perhaps an Art Trail is. Canary Wharf now has one of the UK’s largest collections of Public Art. request an art map to be posted to you.
Another way of enjoying the wonderfully eclectic art whilst embracing the uniqueness of Canary Wharf is the annual Winter Lights Event. (Blog post coming soon).
If you do manage to get to Canary Wharf and see some art then let us know! Tag @walk_london on Instagram and @Guided_Walks on twitter! Back Tower Hamlets’ bid for London Borough of Culture using the hashtag: #ShowtimeTH
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Hazel Baker is a qualified CIGA Tour Guide who delivers guided walks and private tours in London. View all of Hazel’s walking tours.
