London
Italian collector Carlo Bilotti has offered to fund the restoration of Henry Moore’s sculpture The Arch, which was given to Kensington Gardens in 1980 and then dismantled for safety reasons in 1996. The Art Newspaper revealed last month that the seven huge travertine marble blocks are languishing in the yard of a former ammunition magazine in Hyde Park. Our report was picked up by the Guardian, and their article was seen by Mr Bilotti. Mr Bilotti, a cosmetics tycoon who lives in Palm Beach, is offering to pay for a replica of The Arch, which would be cut in a compact marble to withstand the English climate. Approval would be required from the Henry Moore Foundation, the copyright holder. Mr Bilotti has also undertaken to restore the original, and to exhibit it somewhere with more suitable weather, possibly Rome or Palm Beach. The restoration costs are estimated at over £300,000.