Henry Moore

The English sculptor Henry Moore (1898-1986) brought about a renewed interest in direct carving and enriched the formal vocabulary of the medium by his continuous examination of figurative motifs and abstract shapes derived from natural phenomena.

Henry Moore was born in Castleford, Yorkshire, on July 30, 1898. He served in the British army (1916-1917). He studied at the Leeds School of Art (1919-1921), where he read Roger Fry's Vision and Design (1920), which emphasized the expressiveness and formal power of non-Western art.

In 1921 Moore won a scholarship to the Royal College of Art in London. He spent considerable time at the British Museum, where he admired the Sumerian, Egyptian, and pre-Columbian artifacts. He also became acquainted with the work of the sculptors Jacob Epstein, John Skeaping, Frank Dobson, and Eric Gill, who had also been inspired by non-Western sources. Moore's trips to Paris, beginning in 1923, enabled him to become familiar with the work of Constantin Brancusi. In 1925 Moore went to Italy, where he was particularly drawn to the volumetric painting of Giotto and Masaccio.

Works of the 1920s

In the early phase of Moore's sculpture, about 1922 to 1930, two themes emerged which occupied him for the rest of his career: one, the mother and child, and the other, the reclining figure. In such works as Mother and Child (1924-1925, Manchester) and Reclining Figure (1929, Leeds) the strong pre-Columbian treatment is overwhelming. Similarly, the numerous masks he executed, such as the concrete Mask (1929, collection of Philip Hendy), rely on Aztec and Tolmec prototypes. These early works show his mastery of carving techniques and his use of varied materials such as concrete, alabaster, Hornton stone, verde di Prado, and ebony.

Works of the Early 1930s

Moore became less dependent on non-Western sources in the early 1930s, and the full expression of his imagery developed during the next eight years. In part this was due to his interest in cubism and its variants at this time. He was elected to the Seven and Five Society, a group of English avant-garde artists who were also aware of the possibilities of cubism. Between 1930 and 1933 Moore reworked the reclining figure theme, placing the emphasis on a smooth, flowing transition from part to part, as in RecliningWoman (1930, Ottawa); and he began to develop a nonfigurative biomorphic vocabulary similar to that of Brancusi and Jean Arp, for example, the African wonderstone Composition (1932, collection of Mrs. Irina Moore). Moore's tendency toward abstraction became more pronounced in the mid-1930s, and this explains in part why he joined the constructionist-oriented Unit One group.

Two works reflect Moore's refinement of form and composition at this time: the standing ironstone Two Forms (1934, collection of R. H. M. Ody), with carefully incised lines carved lightly over the surface, and the wood Two Forms (1934, New York). Both seemingly allude to the mother and child theme but remain open, even polyvalent, in their meaning.

Works of the Late 1930s and the War

By the mid-1930s Moore returned to the reclining figure, now treated more abstractly, such as Reclining Figure Fourpieces (1934, collection of Mrs. Martha Jackson). The elm-wood Reclining Figure (1935-1936, Buffalo) and its counterpart (1936, Wakefield City) reveal a new sensitivity to, even exploitation of, the material. The shapes seem to emerge from the natural configurations of the wood and its inherent structure. Toward the end of the 1930s the reclining figure was again transformed, gradually opened up, and finally eviscerated, as in the lead Reclining Figure (1938, New York) and Recumbent Figure (1938, London). Moore developed two other motifs at the same time: the interior-exterior image found in The Helmet (1939-1940, collection of Roland Penrose) and the abstract pieces with stretched string or wire, a technique borrowed from mathematical models. Of this series the most successful are the Bird Basket (1939, collection of Mrs. Irina Moore) and The Bride (1940, New York), both playing off mass against volume.

At the outbreak of World War II Moore as Official War Artist entered his most realistic phase, seen in the exceptional set of drawings known as the Shelter Drawings. His major sculptural work was the equally realistic Madonna and Child for the church of St. Matthew, Northampton (1943).

Postwar Works

After 1946 Moore moved in a variety of directions. He returned to the reclining figure motif, continually altering the image. The Reclining Figure for UNESCO in Paris (1957-1958), while executed in a conventional material, marble, is ingeniously displayed on a tilted platform. The Reclining Figure (1963-1964) for Lincoln Center, New York City, is partially submerged in a reflecting pool, the form now broken into two segments. The solution to the composition of the latter commission seems to have been worked out in a series of two-piece figures begun in 1959 and carried out in a number of variations, for example, Two-piece Reclining Figure No. 4 (1962, Amsterdam). The treatment of the recumbent figure became more abstract and was even broken into three parts, as in Three-piece Reclining Figure No. 2 Bridge Prop (1963, Leeds).

Moore also reworked the mother and child image, now translated into the Family Group (1946, Washington), and restated in several pieces of 1950-1952 known as the Rocking Chair. Similarly, the helmet-head theme and related problems of internal and external relationships also reappeared in the early 1950s, now assuming a more impressive scale and vertical orientation, as in the elm-wood Internal External Forms (1953-1954, Buffalo). In addition to these reappearing motifs, Moore developed a much more extensive set of formal images in the postwar period.

The abstract reliefs commissioned from Moore take several forms. The Time Life Screen (1952-1953) of the Time Life Building, London, only casually refers to the angular treatment of the abstract carvings of the 1930s, while the unusual Wall Relief (1955) for the Bouwcentrum, Rotterdam, literally grows out of the brick wall from which the forms emerge, molded of the same material. The degree of abstraction is carried still further in the large nonfigurative composition known as Relief No. 1 (1959) for the Opera House, West Berlin. Yet the figure in some form is retained in an unusual set of images, such as the King and Queen (1952-1953) placed in an outdoor setting on the grounds of W. J. Keswick, Scotland. Executed in metal, the figures have a skeletal rendering reminiscent of the lead reclining figures. Other figurative concerns are expressed in the full-bodied but fragmented torsos with their archaic references of the Warrior with Shield (1953-1954, Minneapolis) and the related Falling Warrior (1956-1957, collection of Joseph H. Hirschorn). Finally, although less specifically figural yet retaining a human orientation, are the upright motif series, of which the Glenkiln Cross (Upright Motive No. 1; 1955, collection of W. J. Keswick) is the most successful.

The late work of Moore was his most powerful, drawing on the theme of interlocking parts, whether based on skeletal structures or stone forms. The scale of his later sculpture increased considerably and, like so much of his larger work, is best viewed out of doors. Most characteristic of this last phase are the Knife Edge in Two Pieces (1962, London), the impressive Locking Piece (1963, Brussels), and the Double Oval (1966, London). Moore died on August 31, 1986 in Much Hadham, England.

Further Reading

The literature on Moore is extensive. Essential to any serious study of the sculptor are the three volumes devoted to the sculpture and drawings that form a continuing catalogue raissonné: Henry Moore, Sculpture and Drawings, Volume 1, 1921-1948, edited by David Sylvester with an introduction by Herbert Read (4th ed. 1957); Volume II, 1949-1955 (1965), also edited by Sylvester with contributions by Read; and Volume III, 1955-1964 (1965), edited by Alan Bowess with remarks by Read. In addition to these documents, statements by Moore have been collected into one volume, Henry Moore on Sculpture, edited by Philip James (1967). John Hedgecol, Henry Spencer Moore (1968), is a volume of photographs by Hedgecol and commentary by Moore.

Of the numerous biographical studies of Moore the most illuminating and satisfactory accounts are by Donald Hall, Henry Moore: The Life and Work of a Great Sculptor (1966), which is organized around the great "masterpieces" of Moore's career, and John Russell, Henry Moore (1968), which is more detailed. An essentially psychoanalytic study is Erich Neumann, The Archetypal World of Henry Moore (1959), in which many of Jung's theses are sensibly worked out. □

Moore, Henry (b Castleford, Yorkshire, 30 July 1898; d Much Hadham, Hertfordshire, 31 Aug. 1986). British sculptor, draughtsman, and printmaker. He is regarded as one of the greatest sculptors of the 20th century and from the late 1940s until his death he was unchallenged as the most celebrated British artist of his time. After service in the British army in the First World War, he trained at Leeds School of Art and from there obtained a scholarship to the Royal College of Art in 1921; he completed his training in 1924, then taught there until 1931. From 1932 to 1939 he was the first head of sculpture in a new department at Chelsea School of Art. During the 1930s he lived in Hampstead in the same area as Ben Nicholson, Barbara Hepworth, the critic Herbert Read, and other leading figures of the avant-garde. In 1940, after the bombing of his studio, he moved to Much Hadham in Hertfordshire, where he lived for the rest of his life.

Most of Moore's early work was carved, rejecting the academic tradition of modelling in favour of the doctrine of truth to material, according to which the nature of the stone or wood—its shape, texture, and so on—was part of the conception of the work. He also rejected the classical and Renaissance conception of beauty and put in its place an ideal of vital force and formal vigour that he found exemplified in much ancient sculpture (Mexican, Sumerian, etc.), which he studied in the British Museum, and also in the frescos of Giotto and Masaccio, which he saw in Italy in 1925 in the course of a travelling scholarship. During the 1930s his work was more directly influenced by European avant-garde art, particularly the Surrealism of Arp. Although he produced some purely abstract pieces, his work was almost always based on forms in the natural world—often the human figure, but also, for example, bones, pebbles, and shells. The reclining female figure and the mother and child were among his perennial themes.

By the late 1930s Moore was well known in informed circles as the leading avant-garde sculptor in England ( Kenneth Clark and Jacob Epstein were among his early supporters), and his wider fame was established by the poignant drawings he did as an Official War Artist (1940–2) of people sheltering from air raids in underground stations. Subsequently his reputation grew rapidly (particularly after he won the International Sculpture Prize at the 1948 Venice Biennale), and from the 1950s he carried out many public commissions in Britain and elsewhere. During this time there were major changes in his way of working. Bronze took over from stone as his preferred medium and he often worked on a very large scale. There was a tendency also for his works to be composed of several elements grouped together rather than made up of a single object. Some critics discerned a falling away of his powers in his later work, marked in particular by a tendency towards inflated rhetoric, but for others he remained a commanding figure to the end.

A man of great integrity and unaffected charm, Moore was held in almost universally high esteem. He held broad socialist principles, was pleased to find that his work could be appreciated by a wide audience and not just an elite, and gave his time generously to serve on public bodies. The tributes paid after his death made it clear that he was widely regarded not only as one of the greatest artists of the century, but also as one of the greatest Englishmen in any field. He was a lucid and perceptive commentator on his own and other people's art, and his writings have been collected as Henry Moore on Sculpture (1966). His output was huge, and it has been reasonably claimed that by the time of his death ‘his work had been distributed more widely throughout the Western world than that of any other sculptor, living or dead’ (catalogue of the exhibition ‘Henry Moore’, Royal Academy, London, 1988). From the late 1960s he also worked a good deal as an printmaker, producing several series of etchings such as Elephant Skull (1969). There are particularly fine holdings of his work in Leeds (City Art Gallery), London (Tate), Toronto (Art Gallery of Ontario), and Washington (Hirshhorn Museum and Sculpture Garden).

Moore, Henry (1898–1986). British sculptor, draughtsman, and printmaker. He is regarded as one of the greatest sculptors of the 20th century and from the late 1940s until his death he was unchallenged as the most celebrated British artist of his time. He was born in Yorkshire, the son of a miner, and after service in the British army in the First World War, he trained at Leeds School of Art and from there obtained a scholarship to the Royal College of Art in 1921. After completing his training in 1924, he taught there until 1931. From 1932 to 1939 he was the first head of sculpture in a new department at Chelsea School of Art. During the 1930s he lived in Hampstead in the same area as Ben Nicholson, Barbara Hepworth, the critic Herbert Read, and other leading figures of the avant-garde. In 1940, after the bombing of his studio, he moved to Much Hadham in Hertfordshire, where he lived for the rest of his life. Most of Moore's early work was carved, rejecting the academic tradition of modelling in favour of the doctrine of truth to material, according to which the nature of the stone or wood—its shape, texture, and so on—was part of the conception of the work. He also rejected the classical and Renaissance notion of beauty and put in its place an ideal of vital force and formal vigour that he found exemplified in much ancient sculpture (Mexican, Sumerian, etc.), which he studied in the British Museum, and also in the frescos of Giotto and Masaccio, which he saw in Italy in 1925 in the course of a travelling scholarship. During the 1930s his work was more directly influenced by European avant-garde art, particularly the Surrealism of Arp. Although he produced some purely abstract pieces, his work was almost always based on forms in the natural world —often the human figure, but also, for example, bones, pebbles, and shells. The reclining female figure and the mother and child were among his perennial themes.

By the late 1930s Moore was well known in informed circles as the leading avant-garde sculptor in England (Kenneth Clark and Jacob Epstein were among his early supporters), and his wider fame was established by the poignant drawings he did as an Official War Artist (1940–2) of people sheltering from air raids in underground stations. Subsequently his reputation grew rapidly (particularly after he won the International Sculpture Prize at the 1948 Venice Biennale), and from the 1950s he carried out many public commissions in Britain and elsewhere. During this time there were major changes in his way of working. Bronze took over from stone as his preferred medium and he often worked on a very large scale. There was a tendency also for his works to be composed of several elements grouped together rather than made up of a single object. Some critics discerned a falling away of his powers in his later work, marked in particular by a tendency towards inflated rhetoric, but for others he remained a commanding figure to the end. A man of great integrity and unaffected charm, Moore was held in almost universally high esteem. He held broad socialist principles, was pleased to find that his work could be appreciated by a wide audience and not just an elite, and gave his time generously to serve on public bodies. The tributes paid after his death made it clear that he was widely regarded not only as one of the greatest artists of the century, but also as one of the greatest Englishmen in any field. He was a lucid and perceptive commentator on his own and other people's sculpture, and his writings have been collected as Henry Moore on Sculpture (1966). His huge output is represented in collections of modern art throughout the world; among the cities with particularly fine holdings are Leeds (City Art Gallery), London (Tate), Toronto (Art Gallery of Ontario), and Washington (Hirshhorn Museum and Sculpture Garden).

Moore, Henry (1751–1844), Wesleyan Methodist preacher who collaborated with Thomas Coke on the first official Life of Wesley (1792) and later, when Wesley's private papers became available, published a two‐volume Life of his own in 1824. Born in Drumcondra, near Dublin, the son of a farmer, Moore was converted in 1777 and entered the Methodist itinerancy in the same year. Though stationed first in Irish circuits, he spent the most important part of his career as a Methodist preacher in England. He became John Wesley's travelling companion and literary executor, and served twice, in 1804 and 1823, as president of the Methodist Conference. Unintentionally, he found himself at the centre of the most bitter conflict in Methodism after Wesley's death when he administered the sacrament at a chapel in Bristol in 1792, thereby provoking five years of debate within Methodism about its relationship with the Church of England, culminating in de facto separation in 1797.

David Hempton

Moore, Henry (1898–1986). One of the greatest sculptors of the 20th cent. Drawing inspiration from primitive sculptures and Italian frescos, he intended his work to have ‘a pent‐up energy, an intense life of its own’. Moore taught at the Royal College of Art 1925–32 and at the Chelsea School of Art 1932–9. At about the same time as his first public commission, the North Wind relief on the London Transport Building (1928), Moore produced his first reclining figure. This theme, together with that of mother and child, was repeated throughout his life.

Moore, Henry (1898–1986) English sculptor and graphic artist. Moore is one of the greatest sculptors of the 20th century. The characteristic features of his art are hollowed-out or pierced spaces, such as Reclining Figure (1938). Moore based most of his work on natural forms and one of his favourite themes was the mother and child. Many of his sculptures are in parks rather than galleries.

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