Lot 352
  • 352

Henry Moore

Estimate
350,000 - 450,000 USD
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Description

  • Henry Moore
  • Mother and Child: Uncrossed Feet
  • Bronze
  • Height (including base): 8 in.
  • 20.3 cm

Provenance

Acquired directly from the artist in 1957

Literature

Robert Melville, Henry Moore, Sculpture and Drawings 1921-1969, London, 1970, illustration of another cast p. 514
Alan Bowness, ed., Henry Moore, Complete Sculpture, 1955-64, vol. III, London, 1986, no. 408, illustration of another cast p. 29

Condition

Dark brown patina. Work is screwed to wooden base at one place on underside and under right foot. Some minor patina rubbing to front of skirt and figures' heads. Pindot acretions on mother and child's right armpit. Base shows signs of normal wear as well as two stable cracks. Overall work is in very good condition.
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.
NOTWITHSTANDING THIS REPORT OR ANY DISCUSSIONS CONCERNING CONDITION OF A LOT, ALL LOTS ARE OFFERED AND SOLD "AS IS" IN ACCORDANCE WITH THE CONDITIONS OF SALE PRINTED IN THE CATALOGUE.

Catalogue Note

Mother and Child: Uncrossed feet is one of the most elegant and compelling of Moore's interpretations of the theme and epitomizes the artist's masterful approach to the depiction of the human figure. The spatial relationship between the mother and her child captured within the richly textured bronze draws its immediate appeal from the balance of playfulness. In 1943 Moore was invited to carve a Madonna and Child for St. Matthew's Church at Northampton (see fig. 1). In discussing the commission the artist wrote: "Although I was very interested I wasn't sure whether I could do it, or whether I wanted to do it. One knows that religion has been the inspiration of most of Europe's greatest painting and sculpture, and the church in the past has encouraged and employed the greatest artists; but the tradition of religious art seems to have got lost completely in the present day” (quoted in David Mitchinson, ed., Henry Moore Sculpture with Comments by the Artist, London, 1981, p. 90).

Discussing the major works produced in 1956-57 Giulio Carlo Argan writes: "The dilemma of the classical and anticlassical, of form and distortion, is applied to the problem of space. Monumentality becomes gigantism, an almost grotesque exaggeration: if the woman was to stand, her head would touch the clouds... Space flows over the figure like a stream over its bed" (G. C. Argan, Henry Moore, New York, 1971, n.p.). The style and scale of Mother and Child relates directly to the magnitude of the subject matter. The essential importance of maternity within the history of art has been monumentalized by Moore's sculptural exploration. As Gail Gelburd commented: "The theme of mother and child, then, not only refers to the paternal relationships but is about fertility, maternity and growth—universal ideas... The mother and child motif goes beyond the image to a primal motif based on the theme of life and birth, for Moore it means creativity. The art is reminiscent of some of the earliest primitive images due to its conceptual base. Moore's work is an attempt to get at the essential nature and to shape it from within... He breathes life and vitality into the inanimate object. The mother and child sculptures are not only a symbol of maternity but of creativity itself" (G. Gelburd in Mother and Child: The Art of Henry Moore (exhibition catalogue), Hofstra Museum, Hofstra University, New York, 1987, p. 27).