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Henry Moore 1898-1986 Mother and Child: Gothic, 1975 Signed and numbered on the back 'Moore 9/9' Bronze with brown and green patina. Conceived and cast in 1975 in an edition of 9 plus 1 artist's proof at the Fiorini foundry. Height 7 5/8 in, 19.4 cm; diameter Provenance Lillian Heidenberg Gallery, New York The Tuttleman Collection (acquired from the above in December 1982) Literature G. Levine, With Henry Moore, The Artistat Work, London, 1978, illus. of another cast p.139 D. Mitchinson (ed.), Henry Moore,Sculpture, With Comments bythe Artist, London, 1981, no.550, illus. of another cast p.265 A. Bowness (ed.), Henry Moore, Complete Sculpture, 1974 - 1980, vol.5, London, 1994, p.27, no.684, illus. of another cast pl.63 J. Hedgecoe, Henry Moore, A Monumental Vision, Cologne, 2005,p.236, no.591, illus. of another cast p.237 This work is registered in the Henry Moore Foundation archives under no. LH 684 In Mother and Child: Gothic the bond between parent and infant is evoked through the protective position of the female figure as she cradles her child in sensuous curves of bronze. The intense emotional resonance of this sculpture reveals Moore's technical mastery and ability to imbue his sculptures with levels of different symbolic meaning. The 'Gothic' title of this work also refers to Moore's fascination with Early Gothic sculpture. Moore particularly valued the spiritual vitality of Gothic art, which he aspired to recreate in his own work. By the time Moore conceived and cast Mother and Child: Gothic in 1975 he had carefully begun to consider his own legacy; establishing the Henry Moore Centre at the Art Gallery of Ontario (1974) and the Henry Moore Foundation at Perry Green (1977) and donating a considerable number of sculptures and graphics to Tate (1978). The British Council staged the largest exhibition of Moore's work to date at the Forte di Belvedere in Florence in 1972, opened by Princess Margaret.