Drawing on a lecture delivered by Dr Michael Paraskos (Imperial College London), delivered at the Henry Moore Institute in Leeds in 2023, this discussion explores the fascinating the British art critic Herbert Read (1893-1968) has in the tactile possibilities of art.

Read believed that art is deeply connected to human senses and experience, and his writings often reflect this conviction, exploring the relationship between art, touch and the human form. The discussion also drawns on poems by Read, which reflect the trauma and devastation he witnessed during World War I, emphasising the importance of individual experience and its impact on artistic expression, as well as the extraordinary ideas he expressed in his novel The Green Child.