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Artist or Maker: HENRY MOORE (1898-1986)
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Dimensions: Length: 36in. 91.4cm
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Provenance: Property from the Collection of Helene Rabb Cahners
Private
Collection, Chicago
Continental Fine Arts, Ltd., New York
Acquired
from the above on August 9, 1966
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Notes: Literature:
Will Grohmann, The Art of Henry
Moore, London, 1960, illustration of another cast pl. 175
Herbert Read, Henry Moore, A Study of his Life and Work,
London, 1965, illustration of another cast pl. 197
Ionel Jianou, Henry
Moore, New York, 1968, no. 401, listed p. 81
Robert Melville,
Henry Moore, Sculpture and Drawings, 1921-1969, London,
1970, no. 555, illustration of another cast
Giulio Carlo Argan, Henry
Moore, New York, 1971, illustration of another cast pl. 137
Franco Russoli and David Mitchinson, Henry Moore, Sculpture, with
comments by the artist, New York, 1981, no. 292, illustration of
another cast p. 141
Alan Bowness and Herbert Read, Henry Moore,
Complete Sculpture 1955-64, vol. 3, London, 1986, no. 422,
illustration of another cast pl. 53
The Art of Henry Moore, Sculpture,
drawings and graphics, 1921-1984 (exhibition catalogue), Tokyo
Metropolitan Art Museum, 1986, no. 53, illustration of another cast p. 21
Roger Berthoud, The Life of Henry Moore, New York, 1987,
discussed p. 278
Sarah Compton, Henry Moore, New York,
1988, no. 141, illustration of another cast pl. 53
David Mitchinson,
Henry Moore (exhibition catalogue), Fondation Pierre Gianadda,
Martigny, 1989, illustration of another cast p. 184
The Henry Moore
Foundation, Henry Moore: The Human Dimension, London,
1991, no. 79, illustration of another cast p. 104 (as dating from 1955)
During the 1950s Moore received commissions for large sculptures
to be placed in architectural settings, most importantly Draped Reclining
Figure for the Time-Life Building in London and the travertine
marble Reclining Figure 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.
The present work, conceived in
1956-57, is a fine example of this theme. The elemental components of this
bronze consist of an abstracted female figure and a horizontal, tilted arc that
serves as the wall. The composition is described simply as Seated figure
against a curved wall, but the title belies the energy that is inherent
in this work. Moore has rendered his sitter neither passive nor lifeless, but as
alert, anticipating the occurrence of a forthcoming event. The figure leans
forward expectantly, balancing her shifting body weight with her extended
arm, and she turns her head toward the direction of someone or something
that is approaching. The curve of the wall and the horizontal sweep of its
grain allude to a trajectory of something in motion, while the tilt of the
structure encloses the seated figure within the given space. With its
simplicity of form and complexity of meaning, this engaging work
demonstrates the aesthetic that dominated Moore's work throughout
the 1950s.
Other casts of this work are in the collections of the Arts
Council of Great Britain, London; Museum of Fine Arts, Boston; Art Gallery of
Ontario, Toronto; The Hirshhorn Museum and Sculpture Garden, Washington,
D.C. and the Art Gallery of South Australia, Adelaide.