Draped Seated Figure against Curved Wall

Details

Henry Moore (1898-1986)
Draped Seated Figure against Curved Wall
bronze with dark brown patina
Length: 13¼in. (33.7cm.)
Height: 9in. (22.8cm.)
Original plaster version executed 1956-1957; this bronze version cast before 1960 in an edition of 12

Provenance

Acquired from the artist by the late owner, 1960

Literature

W. Grohmann, The Art of Henry Moore, London, 1960, no. 176 (plaster version illustrated)
J. Hedgecoe and H. Moore, Henry Moore, New York, 1968, p. 288 (plaster version illustrated)
R. Melville, Henry Moore, Sculpture and Drawings, 1921-1969, London, 1970, no. 524 (plaster version illustrated)
ed. A. Bowness, Henry Moore, Sculpture and Drawings, London, 1986 (revised edition), vol. 3 (1955-64), no. 423 (another cast illustrated, p. 33)

Exhibited

Chicago, University of Chicago, The School of Social Administration Building, Chicago's Homage to Henry Moore, Dec., 1967, no. 12

Lot Essay

During the 1950s Moore received commissions for large sculptures to be placed in architectural settings, most importantly Draped Reclining Figure (ed. A. Bowness, op. cit., no. 336) for the Time-Life Building in London and the travertine marble Reclining Figure (Ibid., no. 416) for the UNESCO headquarters in Paris. The problems of relating the figure to its architectural surroundings continued to fascinate the artist and during this period he produced about a dozen sculptures on a smaller scale in which the composition incorporates the figure and an architectural backdrop.

In these works the wall is not a neutral or decorative prop but serves to generate much of the psychological atmosphere inherent in the overall composition. The curved wall with its horizontal linear design in the present sculpture projects a sense of shelter and security, whereas in other sculptures the flat square walls with small recessed, window-like shapes infer a colder and more alien environment. Unlike the more abstract figures in other variations on this theme, the figure in the present sculpture possesses the fullness of Moore's naturalistic female forms.