Henry Moore

Henry Moore 1898-1986, English sculptor. Moore's early sculpture was angular and rough, strongly influenced by pre-Columbian art. About 1928 he evolved a more personal style which has gained him an international reputation. His works, in wood, stone, and cement (done without clay models), are characterized by their smooth, organic shape and often include empty hollows, which he showed to have as meaningful a shape as solid mass. During World War II, when materials for carving were scarce, he was commissioned by the government to do a series of drawings of the London underground bomb shelters (1940). His favorite sculptural subjects have been the mother and child and the reclining figure. Moore executed an abstract screen and a reclining figure for the Time-Life Building in London (1952-53), a bronze group for Lincoln Center of the Performing Arts in New York City (1962-65), and a monument for the Univ. of Chicago (1964-66). In the Art Gallery of Toronto, a gallery has been dedicated entirely to his works.

Bibliography: See his autobiography, ed. by J. Hedgecoe (1968); a collection of his writings, ed. by P. James (1967); biography by R. Berthond (1987); studies by E. Neumann (1984) and A. Bowness (1986).

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. During the 1930s, Moore's style tended to the abstract and was disliked by traditionalists. But his series of drawings Shelter, of people sleeping in London Underground stations during the Second World War, brought him popular recognition. Madonna (1944) for St Matthew's church, Northampton, and Three Standing Figures (1947–8) in Battersea Park (London), resulted in many further commissions. He was given the OM in 1963.

June Cochrane

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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