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Moore the merrier: Jane Danowski with one of her grandad's sculptures at Kew Gardens.

For most of us, memories of our grandparents are personal. But, for Jane Danowski, things are different.

"I like the fact that my granddad is public property because his work touches people's lives," she says.

The grandad in question is the late Henry Moore, who Jane discusses as we wander around Kew Gardens, home to 28 of the artist's large sculptures. These huge, modernist forms are the work that made Moore's name, and, for most of us, it will be the first chance to get up close to them. For Jane, it is like a reunion with old friends.

Moore died when Jane was seven and, as a child she, along with her two brothers, was a regular visitor to Moore's Hoglands home in the Hertfordshire countryside. She relished the visits, which gave her the chance to play on the sculptures scattered through the grounds.

"It was our second home," she says. "The shapes were so familiar. Like other people had garden furniture, we had these sculptures. We called one of them the Thunder Cave. They would make this incredible rumbling noise as we climbed through them. They were our own personal playground."

As we talk, two children bang on the side of Large Two Forms, a hulking sculpture seemingly made up of two misshapen bones, and the noise Jane described booms out.

She believes this is the kind of interactive reaction Moore was striving to elicit from his audience.

"Art critics often speak pretentiously about my granddad's work. But kids are the perfect audience because the sculptures cry out for an immediate, physical reaction. They are like big nannies. You can lie on them and they warm you. In galleries, you can't touch things but, here, people don't feel watched. You can hug a Henry Moore."

Unfortunately, due to an accident in the opening week of the exhibition, visitors are not able to climb on the sculptures in the way Jane used to. The nature of the Kew landscape also provides a contrast to the vast setting of Hoglands.

"They transmit a different kind of energy in an enclosed space," says Jane. "The Large Reclining Figure is in a controversial setting here. It is usually seen from far away on a horizon. Now it's at ground level with the Palm House behind it. It almost becomes a new sculpture."

The reclining figure is a recurring subject in Moore's work. But Jane is wary of it being stereotyped as sentimental.

"He was exploring the same figures, like the reclining figure or the mother and child, but trying to create new shapes and forms within them. The sculptures are complex and explore life, death, and sexuality. To some, it seems taboo to talk about these supposedly sentimental art works in such stark terms," she explains.

Above all, she is pleased the public have a chance to see Moores' sculptures and hopes it may encourage people to explore his work further.

"Granddad was a committed socialist and, although he wouldn't have been happy with people having to pay to see the pieces, I would prefer they be on display here than to have owned them myself and sold them off to pay for a yacht."

Moore at Kew, Royal Botanical Gardens via Victoria Gate/Main Gate, Kew, until March 30, 2007, 9.30am-6pm, £12.25/£10.25, accompanied U17s free, call 020 8332 5655, visit kew.org.

3:54pm Thursday 27th September 2007

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