David Cameron Gave Obama a Henry Moore

British Prime Minister David Cameron presented an artwork to US President Barack Obama when the pair met at the White House last week to discuss a range of issues, including violent extremism. The piece is a print, which depicts Stonehenge made by the British sculptor Henry Moore.

Cameron’s present was not only tasteful but also rather thoughtful. Last September, Obama made a surprise visit to the Neolithic site in the UK, which he described as “cool.” The images of a smiling Obama walking around the magnificent ruins were soon seen all over the world.

Moore reportedly first saw the Stonehenge ruins under the moonlight, as a young man in 1921. Fifty-two years later, in 1973, he produced a series of lithographs on the subject, one of which could soon be hanging in the White House.

The print was donated by the Henry Moore Foundation and is worth around £1,000. Obama, in turn, gave Cameron a first edition of Benjamin Thomas’s 1952 biography of Abraham Lincoln. First editions of the book in new or like new condition are listed online for around $150.

Cameron seems keen on expanding Obama’s knowledge of British art. When he visited the White House for the first time in 2010, he gave the President a painting by the graffiti artist Ben Eine. On this occasion, Obama reciprocated by giving Cameron an Ed Ruscha lithograph.