Henry Moore (1898-1986)

Mother and Child Against Open Wall

Details

Henry Moore (1898-1986)
Moore, H.
Mother and Child Against Open Wall
bronze with brown patina
Height: 9 in. (23.5 cm.)
Width: 11 in. (28 cm.)
Depth: 7 in. (17.8 cm.)
Original plaster version executed in 1956; this bronze version cast at a later date

Literature

W. Grohmann, The Art of Henry Moore, London, 1960, p. 8, no. 118 (another cast illustrated).
H. Read, Henry Moore, A Study of his Life and Work, London, 1965, p. 219 (another cast illustrated, pl. 203).
R. Melville, Henry Moore, Sculpture and Drawings 1921-1969, London, 1970, no. 526 (another cast illustrated).
A. Bowness, ed., Henry Moore, Complete Sculpture 1955-64, London, 1986, vol. 3, p. 31, no. 418 (another cast illustrated, pl. 52).

Lot Essay

Mother and Child Against Open Wall is one of the studies for the monumental sculpture Henry Moore created for UNESCO. Moore used these maquettes to explore the relationship between the figures and architectural space. "He did not approve the modern habit of calling in an artist after a building was done and asking him or her to provide some sort of ornamentation for it or distraction from it. At the same time, he normally wanted his sculpture to be visible from all sides, not to be set against a surface that would screen parts of it from the viewer... In [Mother and Child Against Open Wall] the interaction of the two figures and the arched openings in the back of the seat make for an intimate and comfortable image..." ("Mother and Child Against Open Wall", in N. Lynton ed., Henry Moore: The Human Dimension, exh. cat., London, 1991, p. 103). The arched wall with its windows locates the figures in an intimate enviroment while simultaneously creating multiple viewpoints of positive and negative space.

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