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Henry Moore is widely regarded as the father of Modern sculpture. With the ability to merge classicism with modernism, Moore's work has remained a constant figure in the canon of art. Yet, as with any influential artist his work has ignited a plethora of reactions ranging from adoration to indignation. In 1919, at the age of twenty-six, Moore enrolled at Leeds School of Art and it was there that he first met Barbara Hepworth. Both artists went on to study at the Royal College of Art, London, and would be hugely influential not only on each other but the course of British art. In 1929, just five years after finishing his studies, Moore married fellow painter Irina Radetzky. The newlyweds moved to Hampstead where a growing number of Moore's artistic circle lived including Hepworth, Roland Penrose and the critic, Herbert Read. While living in their first martial home Moore created several primitive, dark and often sexually charged sculptures and drawings, including Seated Female Nude. There was a widespread feeling in the 1920s that English art was obsolete. France was the dominating force in Modern art, with artists of every nationality gravitating towards its capital. Interested by Surrealism, Moore visited Paris in 1931-32 meeting Giacometti, Arp and Miró while staying there. It was Arp's fusion of landscape and human form which had the greatest effect on the young sculptor. Entranced by the biomorphic shapes of Arp's works, Moore's sculptures of this period grew in their fluidity, taking on a new form of organic abstraction. With a focus upon the subconscious and natural form, Surrealism offered Moore a new visual language. The sense of insularity and lack of 'structural purpose' within English Modernism led the painter Paul Nash, on 12 th June 1933, to announce the formation of Unit One in The Times. The group was designed to be both individual and a collective – hence the name - bringing together painting, sculpture, architecture and design. It sought to unite the currents of Surrealism and Abstraction in order 'to stand for the expression of a truly contemporary spirit'. Emulating such movements as Bauhaus and De Stijl, Unit One aimed to work as a community and an ideologically cohesive group. The group had eleven founding members, including Moore, Hepworth, Nash, Ben Nicolson, John Armstrong and Frances Hodgkins. However, Hodgkins soon left the group and was replaced by Tristram Hillier. Active between 1933-1935 the group only held one exhibition, in the accompanying catalogue Moore laid out five key objectives of his work: - Truth to material: 'Every material has its own individual qualities. It is only when the sculptor works direct when there is an active relationship with his material, that the material can take its part in the shaping of an idea.' - Full three-dimensional realisation: 'Complete sculptural expression is form in its full spatial reality.' - Observation of Natural Objects: 'The human figure is what interests me most deeply, but I have found principles of form and rhythm from the study of natural objects such as pebbles, rocks, bones, trees, plants etc.' - Vision and expression: 'Abstract qualities of design are essential to the value of a work, but to me of equal importance is the psychological, human element.' - Vitality and Power of expression: 'For me a work must first have a vitality of its own… an intense life of its own, independent of the object it may represent.' These principles remained pillars within Moore's art throughout his career. Henry Moore and Unit One