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Lot Essay
The Family Group series, one of Moore's most important subjects, evolved from a commission he received for a public sculpture to be placed on the campus of Village College in Impington designed by Walter Gropius. The school proposed to educate children and adults in the same institution, and Moore held a similar interest in expressing the link between parent and child in his work. Though the project was under discussion as early as 1934, it was eventually discarded due to funding problems. The artist's extensive preparations-numerous drawings and maquettes-attest that Moore worked obsessively on this theme between the years 1944 and 1947.
It was during this time that Moore's interest in the subject of the family was further bolstered by the birth of his daughter Mary in 1946. The new experience of fatherhood prompted Moore to include male figures where he had previously concentrated on the mother and child: "In my work, women must outnumber men by at least fifty to one. Men get brought in when they are essential to the subject, for example in a family group" (D. Mitchinson, ed., Henry Moore Sculpture, London, 1981, p. 52). Moore was prolific and tirelessly inventive in his approach to this new concept. In 1946 and 1947, Moore executed family groups in stone, bronze and terracotta, experimenting with larger and smaller variations, and in naturalistic and non-naturalistic renderings. The introduction of the male figure in the family group marked a radical and difficult development in Moore's compositions which he appears to have resolved through repetition. According to Gail Gelburd, "Although the family groups still strive to avoid symmetry, the addition of the male figure complicates the formal problems. The various maquettes and working models show the sculptor trying different devices for unifying the figures" (Mother and Child: The Art of Henry Moore, Hempstead, 1987, exh. cat., p. 30).
Moore often depended on a cohesive surface strategy to create the impression of unity among the figures. By reworking the metal of the sculptures after casting, he was able to vary the expression of every example, rendering each unique. As Moore explained, "A sculpture must have its own life. Rather than give the impression of a smaller object carved out of a bigger block, it should make the observer feel that what he is seeing contains within itself its own organic energy thrusting outwards. It should always give the impression whether carved or modeled, of having grown organically, created by pressure from within" (op. cit., p. 15). The present example, like all of Moore's family groups, represents its distinguished artistic lineage but is essentially unique.
It was during this time that Moore's interest in the subject of the family was further bolstered by the birth of his daughter Mary in 1946. The new experience of fatherhood prompted Moore to include male figures where he had previously concentrated on the mother and child: "In my work, women must outnumber men by at least fifty to one. Men get brought in when they are essential to the subject, for example in a family group" (D. Mitchinson, ed., Henry Moore Sculpture, London, 1981, p. 52). Moore was prolific and tirelessly inventive in his approach to this new concept. In 1946 and 1947, Moore executed family groups in stone, bronze and terracotta, experimenting with larger and smaller variations, and in naturalistic and non-naturalistic renderings. The introduction of the male figure in the family group marked a radical and difficult development in Moore's compositions which he appears to have resolved through repetition. According to Gail Gelburd, "Although the family groups still strive to avoid symmetry, the addition of the male figure complicates the formal problems. The various maquettes and working models show the sculptor trying different devices for unifying the figures" (Mother and Child: The Art of Henry Moore, Hempstead, 1987, exh. cat., p. 30).
Moore often depended on a cohesive surface strategy to create the impression of unity among the figures. By reworking the metal of the sculptures after casting, he was able to vary the expression of every example, rendering each unique. As Moore explained, "A sculpture must have its own life. Rather than give the impression of a smaller object carved out of a bigger block, it should make the observer feel that what he is seeing contains within itself its own organic energy thrusting outwards. It should always give the impression whether carved or modeled, of having grown organically, created by pressure from within" (op. cit., p. 15). The present example, like all of Moore's family groups, represents its distinguished artistic lineage but is essentially unique.