Henry Moore

Private Collection, United States

Private Collection, Europe

Sale: Villa Grisebach,  December 1, 2006, lot 87

Landau Fine Art, Montreal (acquired at the above sale)

Acquired from the above by the present owner

Alan Bowness, Henry Moore, The Complete Sculpture, 1974-80, vol. 5, London, 1983

Very good condition. Mottled redish brown patina. A few noticable nicks to the surface, due to the casting process. The bronze is stable and the surface bears some evidence of oxidation in areas.
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.

Working Model for Three Piece Reclining Figure: Draped is an extraordinary example of Moore's agility at representing three-dimensional form.  The sculpture consists of three separate pieces that comprise a grand structure of compelling beauty.  By separating these forms, Moore permits the viewer to consider the spatial depth of his work and the relationship between the solids and voids of the sculpture.  The solidity of each piece and their specific placement on the base at once creates a work that is conceptually unified yet elementally disparate. This structural paradox marks Moore's true genius as a manipulator of form and visual provocateur.

Julie Summers has written on the present subject: "Moore talked a great deal from early on in his career about his belief that sculpture had to be three-dimensional, that one viewpoint was insufficient, uninteresting, and it is in his two- and three-piece sculptures that he achieves a consummate three-dimensionality, so that the sculpture can be read differently from any angle.  From one side of this piece the viewer is presented with the dramatic sweep of the skirt curved lines in a flat surface; from the front all three elements are foreshortened an extremely dynamic view.  Seen from a sideways perspective, the skirt at once protects and shields the more vulnerably, smaller leg section from the viewer and, from the foreshortened perspective of a head-on-view, provides an inviting curve leading to the head.  From all these views the head section dominates yet does not overpower.  The skirt section of the figure is based on a piece of the mould used for casting Helmet Head No. 6 (LH, no. 651, see fig. 2)" (J. Summers in Henry Moore, From the Inside Out: Plasters, Carvings and Drawings (exhibition catalogue), Munich, 1996, p. 162).

 

Moore had experimented with dividing and sectioning his sculpture in the 1960s with his Two Piece Reclining Figure No. 3 , but here he has evolved his idea beyond his original expectations.  Moore explained the development of the divided forms which make up his later reclining figures as follows: “I did the first one in two pieces almost without intending to.  But after I had done it, then the second one became a conscious idea… Once these two parts become separated you don’t expect it to be a naturalistic figure; therefore you can justifiably make it look like a landscape or a rock.  If it’s a single figure you can guess, what it’s going to be like.  If it’s in two pieces, there’s a bigger surprise, you have more unexpected views; therefore the special advantage over painting – of having the possibility of many different views – is more fully explored… Sculpture is like a journey.  You have a different view as you return.  The three-dimensional view is full of surprises in a way that a two-dimensional world could never be," (quoted in "Henry Moore's World," Atlantic Monthly, January 1962).

The present sculpture is the "working model" size of a form that Moore ultimately created in monumental scale.   The present sculpture belongs to a series of nine numbered casts.  When the monumental version of this sculpture was exhibited at the Philadelphia Museum in 1998, Michael R. Taylor gave the following analysis in the exhibition catalogue: “The intervals between the three sections of the sculpture can be likened to the manner in which broken antique figures, such as the pediment sculptures from the Parthenon in the British Museum, are displayed.  Moore offers the viewer a correctly proportioned figure, with space and form completely dependent on and inseparable from each other, thereby allowing us mentally to complete the gap between the upper body and the stranded legs.  The fully three-dimensional character of the work allows for almost unlimited points of view and unexpected vistas, which constantly change as one walks around the sculptures.  The combination of spatial richness and exuberant sexuality marks Three Piece Reclining Figure: Draped as a masterpiece of Moore's late style.  The sculpture has an emotional  intensity that speaks to us on many levels and conveys with an eloquent assurance the artist's unshakable belief in the significance of life in its spiritual and organic aspects” (Henry Moore: An Exhibition in Celebration of Philip I. Berman (exhibition catalogue), The Philadelphia Museum of Art, 1998, p. 39).