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Lot Essay
'There are three fundamental poses of the human figure, one is standing, the other is seated, and the third is lying down … of these poses, the reclining figure gives more freedom compositionally and spatially. The seated figure has to have something to sit on. You can’t free it from its pedestal. A reclining figure can recline on any surface. It is free and stable at the same time. It fits in with my belief that sculpture should be permanent, should last for eternity' (H. Moore, quoted in J.D. Morse, ‘Henry Moore Comes to America’, Magazine of Art, vol. 40, no. 3, March 1947, pp. 97-101, reprinted in P. James (ed.), Henry Moore on Sculpture, London, 1966, p. 264).
Moore’s reclining figures are a motif that returned persistently from the late 1920s and throughout the artist’s life, forged as maquettes for experiments which would ultimately become large-scale sculpture, the ideas enduring, if not the specifics. For Moore, maquettes were always made on a large mental scale, even before they were physically realised in these proportions. The large-scale sculptures fulfill their true potential when positioned in a landscape, where despite being forged by Moore’s hand they seem at home, echoing the organic tones and curvilinear forms. This biomorphic nature of his work persists in Moore’s smaller works which carry the same organic potentiality. Reclining figures vary in their depiction of the human body, this maquette positioning itself on the representative end of the spectrum of Moore’s figures. It demonstrates a distinguishable human form, without the holes and high abstraction seen in other examples, and is typical of Moore’s style of maquette during the 1950s. Yet, its representation maintains the fluidity of the undulating lines, which wrap their way around the negative space created by the body, the figure leaning on its left arm, propped up by crossed legs which raise a small waist suggesting feminine curves. The pose, as is common in Moore’s figures, creates a sense of potential energy over the traditional passivity of the female nude.
All of Moore’s works are intended to be experienced in the round to fully appreciate the different generations of form, curve and space which the work presents. It was through his insistent studies of the female form, that Moore was able to achieve this focus on form and space, with the reclining position creating the figure that is ‘free and stable at the same time’. As a traditional subject matter in art, he situates himself in the longstanding Western tradition which recalls Ancient Greece. Furthermore, a universal subject such as the human form is so well-known, that Moore cannot be accused of attempting to recreate reality. Each representation values experiment of form over the specific subject represented.
Moore’s reclining figures are a motif that returned persistently from the late 1920s and throughout the artist’s life, forged as maquettes for experiments which would ultimately become large-scale sculpture, the ideas enduring, if not the specifics. For Moore, maquettes were always made on a large mental scale, even before they were physically realised in these proportions. The large-scale sculptures fulfill their true potential when positioned in a landscape, where despite being forged by Moore’s hand they seem at home, echoing the organic tones and curvilinear forms. This biomorphic nature of his work persists in Moore’s smaller works which carry the same organic potentiality. Reclining figures vary in their depiction of the human body, this maquette positioning itself on the representative end of the spectrum of Moore’s figures. It demonstrates a distinguishable human form, without the holes and high abstraction seen in other examples, and is typical of Moore’s style of maquette during the 1950s. Yet, its representation maintains the fluidity of the undulating lines, which wrap their way around the negative space created by the body, the figure leaning on its left arm, propped up by crossed legs which raise a small waist suggesting feminine curves. The pose, as is common in Moore’s figures, creates a sense of potential energy over the traditional passivity of the female nude.
All of Moore’s works are intended to be experienced in the round to fully appreciate the different generations of form, curve and space which the work presents. It was through his insistent studies of the female form, that Moore was able to achieve this focus on form and space, with the reclining position creating the figure that is ‘free and stable at the same time’. As a traditional subject matter in art, he situates himself in the longstanding Western tradition which recalls Ancient Greece. Furthermore, a universal subject such as the human form is so well-known, that Moore cannot be accused of attempting to recreate reality. Each representation values experiment of form over the specific subject represented.