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Henry Moore OM CH FBA
(1898-1986)
Henry Moore is one of the most recognisable
and influential artists of the modern era. Born
in Yorkshire, Moore served in the British Army
during the First World War. In 1919, thanks to an
ex-serviceman's grant, he went to study at Leeds
School of Art, and two years later, to London to
study sculpture at the Royal College of Art.
Numerous commissions and exhibitions in
the 1930s established his reputation. In 1940
the Moore family moved to Perry Green,
Hertfordshire, which became their home for the
rest of their lives. Moore was recruited as an offcial
war artist and produced his famous drawings of
people sheltering in the London Underground
during the Blitz. In 1946 Henry Moore had his
first major international solo exhibition, at the
Museum of Modern Art in New York. Global
success followed and in 1977 he established the
Henry Moore Foundation to encourage wider
enjoyment and opportunities in the arts.
Henry Moore first created this sculpture in 1938
as a 33cm lead maquette, now in the collection of
the Museum of Modern Art in New York. Nearly
half a century later he returned to it, encouraged
by the architect I.M. Pei, who commissioned a
Large Reclining Figure, 1983
Fibreglass, unique, edition of 1
340 × 900 × 310 cm
Courtesy of The Henry Moore Foundation: acquired 1987
www.henry-moore.org
Moore felt that all art should have a certain
mystery and should make demands on
the spectator to spend time looking and
reflecting on what they see. Do you find
mystery in Reclining Figure? Might it point
to the mystery of our humanity and what
we mean by that?
