Henry Moore, O.M., C.H.

Nathan Silberberg Fine Arts (acquired from the artist in January 1985)

Acquired from the above in February 12, 1985

Alan Bowness and Herbert Read, Henry Moore, Sculpture and Drawings, vol. 3, London, 1965, no. 440, illustrated p. 38 and pl. 74

John Hedgecoe and Henry Moore, Henry Moore, New York, 1968, illustrations of the plaster pp. 301-303

Moore al Castello Sforzesco (exhibition catalogue), Castello Sforzesco, Milan, 1989, illustration of another cast p. 37

David Mitchinson, Henry Moore (exhibition catalogue), Fondation Pierre Gianadda, Martigny, 1989, illustrations of the plaster and another cast pp. 189-91

Michel Muller and David Cohen, Moore in the Bagatelle Gardens, Paris, Woodstock, 1994, illustrations of another cast pls. XLVI & XLVII

Conceived in 1958-59 shortly before his famous Two Piece Reclining Figure series, Seated Woman reflects Moore's commitment to analyzing the relationship between mass and space as conveyed by the female body. This sculpture possesses many of the same monolithic qualities as his other female figures, but it is particularly notable for its expressive nature. While Moore endowed many of his other sculptures with more resolved anatomical features, Seated Woman relies on inference and the play between light and shadow to define her shape. As David Mitchinson noted when discussing the maquette for Seated Woman, "Even in a tiny size the monumentality of this work is apparent. Arms, legs, feet and facial features are minimal or entirely missing. What is of importance are the curves of the modelling and the vaginal incision across the hugely bulbous skirt, both of which lead the eye to the centre of the form. This work epitomizes female fecundity, belonging to a series of sculptures in which Moore's interest was dominated by mature womanhood rather than by youth..." (Claude Allemand-Cosneau, Mangred Fath and David Mitchinson, eds., Henry Moore, From the Inside Out, Plasters, Carvings and Drawings (exhibition catalogue), Musée des Beaux-Arts, Nantes; Städtische Kunsthalle, Mannheim, 1996-97, p. 139).

In later years Moore patiently reworked his plasters in order to achieve just the right interaction between space and form. As he remarked of the present work in 1968, "Although I like this piece, started in 1958, it has never been cast into bronze yet...As a young sculptor, if I didn't finish a piece by continuously working on it, I would abandon it. But as I get older I can sustain my ideas longer. Now I can work on one piece intermittently, and over long periods, just as for example, Cézanne worked on the late 'Bathers' pictures for the last ten or fifteen years of his life, altering them throughout, as can readily be seen" (John Hedgecoe and Henry Moore, Henry Moore, New York, 1968, p. 300).

Seated Woman was cast in an edition of six plus one artist's proof. Other casts are located at the City of Herning Congress Centre in Denmark, the Henry Moore Foundation in England, and on loan from the Hall Family Foundation to the Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art in Kansas City.