Henry Moore fund to pay bills for sculptors struggling with cost of living

Economic crisis prompts renowned artist's foundation to award special rescue grants for 50 artists totalling 100,000

Henry Moore, the son of a coalminer, would never have created great works of art if he had not received a gift of financial aid as a young man.

A survivor of the battlefields of the first world war, he returned to his hometown of Castleford, West Yorkshire, believing he would become a school teacher. But the intervention of a former art mistress led him to apply for an ex-serviceman's grant.