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

Marlborough Fine Art, New York, where acquired by the present owner in 1964

Folkestone, New Metropole Arts Centre, Henry Moore Sculptures and Drawings, April - May 1966, cat. no.10 (another cast) with tour to City Art Gallery, Plymouth;
London, Tate Gallery, Henry Moore, July - September 1968, cat. no.132, illustrated in the catalogue (another cast);
York, Heslington Hall, University of York Visual Arts Society, Henry Moore, March 1969, cat. no.35 (another cast); 
Munich, Staatsgalerie Moderner Kunst, Henry Moore 1961-1971, October - November 1971, cat. no.7, illustrated in the catalogue (another cast);
Florence, Forte di Belvedere, Mostra di Henry Moore, May - September 1972, cat. no.130, illustrated in the catalogue (another cast);
Oslo, Henie Onstad Kunstsenter, Henry Moore - Fem Decennier Skulptur, teckning, grafik 1923-1975, June - July 1975, cat. no.69 (another cast) with tour to Stockholm and Ålborg;
Zurich, Expo Zürich, Zürcher Forum, Henry Moore, June - August 1976 cat. no.76, (another cast);
Bradford, Bradford Art Galleries and Museums, Henry Moore 80th Birthday Exhibition, April - June 1978, cat. no.37, illustrated in the catalogue (another cast);
London, Tate Gallery, The Henry Moore Gift, June - August 1978, illustrated in the catalogue (another cast). 

Herbert Read, Henry Moore, Thames and Hudson, London, 1965, p.244, illustrated pl.234 (another cast);
John Russell, Henry Moore, The Penguin Press, London, 1968, p.209, illustrated pls.218 and 219 (another cast);
John Hedgecoe and Henry Moore, Henry Moore, Nelson, London, 1968, pp.466-7, illustrated p.443 (another cast);
David Sylvester, Henry Moore, Tate, London, 1968, p.119, illustrated pls.108 and 109 (another cast);
Alan G. Wilkinson, The Moore Collection in the Art Gallery of Ontario, Toronto, 1979, p.186, illustrated pl.166 (original plaster version);
Alan Bowness (ed.), Henry Moore, Complete Sculpture, Volume 4, 1964-73, Lund Humphries, London, 1977, LH521, illustrated pls.14 and 15 (another cast). 

The work has recently been cleaned and repolished. There are a few tiny irregularities to the surface, which appear to be inherent to the cast. There are one or two minor nicks and scratches, but otherwise the work is in good overall condition. Please telephone the department on 0207 293 6424 if you have any questions about 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."

'The small version of this piece was originally called 'Head in Hand', the hand being the piece at the back. When I came to make it full size, about eighteen inches high, I gave it a pale gold patina so that each piece reflected a strange, almost ghostly, light at the other. This happened quite by accident. It was because the whole effect reminded me so strongly of the light and shape of the full moon that I have since called it 'Moon Head'...'
(Henry Moore, quoted in John Hedgecoe and Henry Moore, Henry Moore, 1968, pp.466-7)

Moon Head's smooth polished bronze surface and curvilinear outline appear at first to evoke abstract forms, however, as with the majority of Moore's work, the forms reference the human body and more specifically, the shapes are suggestive of a mouth on one disc and a forefinger and thumb on the other - the smaller early version of the work was more clearly titled Maquette for Head and Hand (1962, LH505). The relationship between the two discs is also strongly reminiscent of Barbara Hepworth's earlier Discs in Echelon (1935, Museum of Modern Art, New York) whilst the edges of the outer rims recall the sharp-edges of Cycladic idols in the British Museum which Moore greatly admired. Indeed, in 1969 he was invited to include one of his works alongside the sculptures created by the early inhabitants of the Cyclades Islands and he chose to include the original plaster version of Moon Head, now in the Moore Collection at the Art Gallery of Ontario, Toronto.

The outer rims of Moon Head have a unique quality with one side sharp and the other blunt which Moore described as 'knife-edged': 'Moon Head is one of several recent 'knife edge' sculptures I've made - which had all come about through my interest in bone forms - for example the breast bones of birds - so light, so delicate, and yet so strong' (Moore, 1981).

The owner of the present work, Beverly Whitney Kean (1921 -2011) was a remarkable character. Born in Toronto, she starred in two 1944 Hollywood films with Anthony Quinn (Ladies of Washington and Irish Eyes Are Smiling) before becoming a leading authority on early Russian collections of Modern Art. She published the seminal book on the subject in 1983, All the Empty Palaces: The Merchant Patrons of Modern Art in Pre-Revolutionary Russia, which focused on the collectors Sergei Shchukin and Ivan Morozov who owned between them more than 50 Matisses, 43 Picassos and 27 Gauguins as well as works by artists such as Monet, Renoir and Van Gogh, all amassed before 1914. When it was first published, the book was banned in Soviet Russia. Her research for the book is unparalleled and Kean was the last person to interview Picasso and Braque's legendary dealer Daniel Henri Kahnweiler. During her lifetime, Kean was also a significant collector in her own right and her collection included works by Kokoschka, Goncharova, Picasso and Kandinsky.

The artist's cast of Moon Head is in the Tate Collection and the plaster version is in the Moore Collection at the Art Gallery of Ontario, Canada. A smaller porcelain version is in the collection of the Henry Moore Foundation.