Henry Moore
Reclining Figure: Arched Leg, 4/6
Date 1969 - 1970
Medium Bronze with green patina
Dimensions 250 x 465.5 x 207 cm
Inventory ID UID 102-884
884.jpg
After the First World War, Henry Moore, a miner’s son, received an ex-serviceman’s grant allowing him to continue his studies, and became the first sculpture student at the Leeds School of Arts. His subjects were usually abstractions of female silhouettes, especially the Reclining Figures, such as the one belonging to the Berardo Collection (other versions of the same figure belong to the City of Geneva and the San Diego Museum of Art in California). Moore’s sculptures are often perforated, containing cavities or holes. The recurring form in his work is an extended and punctured silhouette, which was inspired by Toltec art. Many people have interpreted the undulating forms of these elongated silhouettes as references to the landscape and valleys of Yorkshire, the artist’s place of birth. The artist always rejected overly explicit titles: ‘All art should have a certain mystery and should make demands on the spectator. Giving a sculpture or a drawing too explicit a title takes away part of that mystery so that the spectator moves on to the next object, making no effort to ponder the meaning of what he has just seen.’ After the Second World War, Moore’s bronzes acquired monumental scale, especially in his commissions for public art. J-FC