In this artwork, how is the Westminster cast discussed?
The second cast of Knife Edge Two Piece is located in Abingdon Street Gardens, also known as College Green, opposite the Palace of Westminster in London. In 1965 Whitney Straight, the chairman of the Contemporary Art Society, wrote to Charles Pannell MP, the Minister of State for Public Buildings and Works to tell him that the society was "considering the possibility of ‘making a gift of a substantial work of art to be erected at some suitable site in London". The Contemporary Art Society met with Henry Moore to discuss their proposal and Moore subsequently chose the site at Abingdon Street Gardens for the sculpture. Moore waived his usual fee, and the Contemporary Art Society paid for the cost of the casting. The sculpture was unveiled by Robert Mellish, the Minister of Public Building and Works, on 1 September 1967.Moore liked the site so much that he did not even visit an alternative site in Hyde Park; he felt that the sculpture might have been lost in such a big park, recalling an experience he had trying to find the sculpture Riva by Jacob Epstein in the park. He welcomed the fact that the sculpture would be next to a public path and would have seating nearby to allow contemplation, and compared the gardens favourably with the setting for Hubert Le Sueur’s equestrian statue of Charles I at Charing Cross, "which, in order to look at closely and appreciate in detail, you have to risk your life in crossing a maze of traffic". The siting of the sculpture was disliked by some, with Neil Marten MP asking Parliament why "this lovely part of Westminster should be littered with something that looks like a crashed unidentified flying object."Moore believed he had donated the work to the City of London, but the Henry Moore Foundation believed it was owned by the City of Westminster, and its delivery was accepted by the Ministry of Public Building and Works. The land where it is situated was a bombsite in the Second World War, and is owned by the Parliamentary Estate; Westminster City Council operates a car park underneath. The sculpture was moved and placed on a plinth in 1969. No formal arrangements were ever made for the ownership and care of Knife Edge Two Piece, and it fell into a state of disrepair. Though it is worth an estimated £5m, no conservation work ever took place on the sculpture, and its ownership was unresolved until the House of Commons agreed to take responsibility for it. Knife Edge Two Piece entered the Parliamentary Art Collection in 2011.  It was granted a Grade II* listing in January 2016.
Hyde Park Minister of State for Public Buildings and Works Contemporary Art Society Abingdon Street Gardens listing Henry Moore Foundation Minister of Public Building and Works Ministry of Public Building and Works Westminster equestrian statue of Charles I Robert Mellish City of Westminster House of Commons Whitney Straight Charles Pannell Henry Moore Neil Marten London Jacob Epstein Westminster City Council Parliamentary Art Collection Parliamentary Estate City of London Palace of Westminster College Green Hubert Le Sueur