British Prime Minister Gives Henry Moore Print To Obama

David Cameron

A work by the British sculptor Henry Moore became a very special gift last week, when British Prime Minister David Cameron presented an artwork to US President Barack Obama when the pair met at the White House to discuss a range of world issues, including violent extremism, in light of the recent attack on Charlie Hebdo in Paris. The piece is a print by the famous British artist, which depicts Stonehenge.

Cameron’s present was rather considered, due to a certain trip made by the American president, when Last September, Obama made a surprise visit to the famous Neolithic site, which he described as “cool.” The images of a smiling Obama walking around the magnificent ruins soon were seen all over the world.

Moore reportedly first saw the Stonehenge ruins under the moonlight, as a young man in 1921. Fifty-two years later, in 1973, he produced a series of lithographs on the subject, one of which could soon be hanging in the White House.

The work by the quintessential British artist, was donated by the Henry Moore Foundation and is worth around £1,000. Obama gave Cameron a gift of a first edition of Benjamin Thomas’s 1952 biography of Abraham Lincoln. First editions of the book in new or like new condition are listed online for around $150.

Cameron seems to be attempting to expand Obama’s knowledge of British art. When the Prime Minister visited the White House for the first time in 2010, he gave the President a painting by the graffiti artist Ben Eine. On this occasion, Obama reciprocated by giving Cameron an Ed Ruscha lithograph.

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