During the 1950s Henry Moore received a number of significant commissions for large sculptures to be placed in architectural settings, including, Draped Reclining Figure for the Time-Life building in London. Seated Figure Against Curved Wall belongs to an important series of seated figures that Henry Moore conceived and created whilst considering a suitable sculpture for a commission for the UNESCO headquarters in Paris. Moore was at odds with the practice of creating a sculpture for an existing building simply as an augmentation or enhancement to the existing architecture. Indeed, he saw his sculpted figures as independent works of art to be viewed from all angles and positions, rather than a decorative adornment positioned against a surface. The present work demonstrates Moore’s attempted solution to this problem with the curved wall forming the architectural element, integral to the overall sculpture. The wall creates a backdrop that not only places the figure in a predetermined setting but also creates an independent and private space in which the seated figure exists.
This challenge of relating a sculptural figure to its architectural surroundings continued to fascinate Moore during this period. He produced several sculptures which combine the human and the architectural form including Draped Seated Figure against Curved Wall and Figure on Steps both of which were conceived and executed around the same time as Seated Figure Against Curved Wall. Moore eventually abandoned the idea of a wall for the UNESCO building commission as the figure itself, the crux of the artwork, would be obscured from view from the inside of the building. Instead Moore created the monumental sculpture Unesco Reclining Figure carved from traventine marble between 1957-58. When viewed against the backdrop of the modernist designed building however, it is as if Moore has placed the sculpture against an architectural landscape which anchors it and imbues it with a natural solidity, much like the design of the present work.
The UNESCO commission presented Moore with an important challenge and the gestation process resulted in a number of important independent sculptures of which the present work can be considered one of the most significant. Roger Berthoud comments on this process in his biography on Moore:
‘He tried draped and undraped seated female figures, mother with a standing child, figures on steps, figures reading. He was worried about the visibility of a bronze, darkened by urban pollution, against the glass windows of the main facade, so he provided some pieces with their own bronze background wall - only to realize they would thus be invisible from inside the building.’
In the present work the position of the figure’s right arm resting on her knee in front of her torso suggests that the figure may be reading a book. This was an idea that Moore was experimenting with during this period and a motif he considered appropriate for the UNESCO commission given its emphasis on education and learning. The combination of the natural and organic shape of the female form and the sweeping curvature and solidity of the wall makes this a wonderfully dynamic and engaging work from an important phase of Moore’s sculptural journey.