Henry Moore

Acquired by the present owner in the early 1990s

Family groups are one of Moore's key subjects, especially during the years 1944-48. As the artist recalled: 'The idea for a Family Group sculpture came out of a discussion I had around 1934 with Henry Morris, the pioneer of village college schools, together with Walter Gropius, the German architect engaged to design the first of these schools at Impington, a village near Cambridge. [...] Henry Morris explained his hopes that by a full use of the school buildings and facilities in the evenings and also throughout the weekends parents would further their own education and, in consequence, there would be a better parent-student relationship with teachers and more community life in the village. After some thought, I came to the idea of the Family Group, making the connection between family and school' (quoted in D. Mitchinson (ed.) Henry Moore Sculpture, London, 1981, p. 102).

Although the project was never realised due to lack of funding, the artist carried on exploring this theme in numerous expressive drawings, mainly made in bomb shelters in London during World War II. The series reflected both Moore's wish for peace and harmony in the post-war world and his expression of happiness during the birth of his first child, Mary. The artist said of this series: 'The family group ideas were all generated by drawings: and that was perhaps because the whole family group idea was so close to one as a person; we were just going to have our first child Mary, and it was an obsession' (quoted in C. Allemand-Cosneau, M. Fath & D. Mitchinson (eds.) Henry Moore From the Inside Out, Prestel, Munich & New York, 1996, p. 112). 

Discussing this important series in the context of the artist's oeuvre, Will Grohmann notes: 'With the Family Group theme Moore regained his freedom since the commissions received were less restricting. He started working on these groups at about the same time as the Madonna. In the years 1944 to 1947 he produced a number of larger and smaller variations in stone, bronze and terracotta, differing considerably from one another, being both naturalistic and non-naturalistic, though never as abstract as the Reclining Figures. The theme does not hem him in, but demands a certain readiness to enter into the meaning of a community such as a family. "To be an artist is to believe in life" Moore writes and this includes family life...' (W. Grohmann, Henry Moore, London, 1960, p. 141).