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

Zwemmer Gallery, London, whence acquired by the previous owner in the late 1950s
Private Collection

Alan Bowness (ed.), Henry Moore, Complete Sculpture, 1955-64, Lund Humphries, London, 2005, vol.3, no.436, p.36, illustrated p.37 (another cast).

Traces of dirt have gathered in the crevices of the bronze but the sculpture is in good overall condition. Please telephone the department on 020 7293 5381 if you have any questions regarding the present work.
"In response to your inquiry, we are pleased to provide you with a general report of the condition of the property described above. Since we are not professional conservators or restorers, we urge you to consult with a restorer or conservator of your choice who will be better able to provide a detailed, professional report. Prospective buyers should inspect each lot to satisfy themselves as to condition and must understand that any statement made by Sotheby's is merely a subjective, qualified opinion. Prospective buyers should also refer to any Important Notices regarding this sale, which are printed in the Sale Catalogue.
NOTWITHSTANDING THIS REPORT OR ANY DISCUSSIONS CONCERNING A LOT, ALL LOTS ARE OFFERED AND SOLD AS IS" IN ACCORDANCE WITH THE CONDITIONS OF BUSINESS PRINTED IN THE SALE CATALOGUE."

Conceived in 1957 and cast in an edition of thirteen.

Moore's growing international reputation in the 1950s inevitably brought with it a number of important commissions for large-scale sculptures to be placed in some very public locations. One of the most significant of these, and which was to occupy Moore for over four years, was for a large sculpture for the headquarters of UNESCO in Paris. Beginning in 1955, Moore seems to have had a huge variety of ideas as to the form this sculpture would take, and whilst the final figure was to be a pierced reclining female form in travertine marble, the many variations for the commission form a coherent group, dubbed by the artist's biographer Roger Berthoud 'the daughters of UNESCO'.

Clearly from the early stages of his ideas for this piece Moore felt that the female image was to be the most appropriate, and some of the variant compositions that he experimented with, such as Mother and Child Against Open Wall (LH418) include a child figure. However it seems that Moore felt that the single female figure embodied the concepts he was aiming to express, and thus, as with the present work, the question of how to present this figure became uppermost. Having a pre-determined site to work to, and with Breuer, Nervi and Zehrfuss' building as a backdrop, Moore was clearly concerned about the autonomy of the image and many of the ideas that he envisaged incorporated some sort of wall and seat arrangement. Moore had been very uncertain about the wall placed behind his Family Group at Barclay School, Stevenage in 1949, and perhaps he felt that by designing his own background he could still allow the sculpture to be seen to advantage. However this was abandoned and he pursued the idea of the kind of 'plinth' upon which the sculpture was to be seen. The square steps used here prove to be a very successful concept, giving the sculpture both height, and thus presence, but also informality. The decision as to whether the figure should be draped or not also seems to have vexed Moore and indeed the large-scale version of the group to which the present piece belongs shows very worked drapery. This use of draped forms has its root in the Shelter studies that Moore had made during the war, and indeed the sculpture immediately after that period, such as the Family Groups, do incorporate drapery motifs. However it was not until the Draped Reclining Figure (LH336) of 1952-3 that Moore created for the terrace of the Time-Life Building in London that it became a central feature of this period, giving his sculptures an air of the classical.

This suggestion of the classical and the monumental is present even in the maquettes of this period, and Seated Figure on Square Steps has exactly this quality.