British Art World Figures Protest Possible Sale of a Henry Moore

The cash-strapped council of the Borough of Tower Hamlets in the East End of London is expected to decide on Wednesday whether it will proceed with plans to sell a valuable Henry Moore sculpture despite opposition from Sir Nicholas Serota, director of the Tate; Danny Boyle, the filmmaker; and artists including Jeremy Deller, who have signed an open letter saying that the sale “goes against the spirit of Henry Moore’s original sale” of the work.

The artist sold “Draped Seated Woman,’’ a large 1957 bronze, to the London County Council, which no longer exists, for a discounted price of £6,000 in 1960, on the understanding that it would be displayed in a public space and would therefore enrich the lives of residents in an economically depressed area.

When the housing project where it was on view was demolished in the late 1990s, the sculpture was moved to the Yorkshire Sculpture Park in Northern England. Now leading members of the arts community, in a letter published in the London Observer on Sunday, are opposing the sale. Some are saying that the sculpture – which weighs some 1.5 metric tons – should be on display at Olympic Park in London.

Prices for Moore’s monumental sculptures have been rising in recent years. At Christie’s in February “Reclining Figure: Festival,’’ from 1951 made a record price of $30.1 million. “Draped Seated Woman,’’ experts say, could fetch upward of $32 million.