拍品專文
'As a student in London I began to realise that good drawing was not copying the model … It was an attempt to understand the full three-dimensionality of the human figure, to learn about the object one was drawing … (Henry Moore)
Moore was constantly developing new formal relationships and explorations of space in his sculpture, and drawing was an indispensable tool for him, revealing as much about the sculptures as the sculptures themselves. Unlike the process of making sculpture, drawing was a fast paced means of expression for Moore, and he used the medium as an outlet for ideas, as well as a way to further explore the human form. Furthermore, Reclining Figures, 1940, dates to the early period of the war when drawing was an accessible and immediate avenue of expression and experimentation for Moore.
Reclining Figures is an early example of a technique that the artist had been developing since 1938, using crayon in combination with watercolour and pen to create a depth of background and space. In Reclining Figures Moore has used ink and wax crayon to suggest depth and volume around the central form, emphasising the three-dimensionality of the reclining figure. The use of colour around the figure in the foreground emphasises this, and the subtle washes of purples and blues in the background create a soft setting which direct the background figures back to the central focus of the composition.
Moore was constantly developing new formal relationships and explorations of space in his sculpture, and drawing was an indispensable tool for him, revealing as much about the sculptures as the sculptures themselves. Unlike the process of making sculpture, drawing was a fast paced means of expression for Moore, and he used the medium as an outlet for ideas, as well as a way to further explore the human form. Furthermore, Reclining Figures, 1940, dates to the early period of the war when drawing was an accessible and immediate avenue of expression and experimentation for Moore.
Reclining Figures is an early example of a technique that the artist had been developing since 1938, using crayon in combination with watercolour and pen to create a depth of background and space. In Reclining Figures Moore has used ink and wax crayon to suggest depth and volume around the central form, emphasising the three-dimensionality of the reclining figure. The use of colour around the figure in the foreground emphasises this, and the subtle washes of purples and blues in the background create a soft setting which direct the background figures back to the central focus of the composition.