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

Redfern Gallery, London, where acquired by Eugene and Penelope Rosenberg, December 1952

Henri Jonquieres and P.A. Nicaise, Lithographies de Henry Moore, Paris, 1950, p.51;
Ann Garrould (ed.), Henry Moore, Complete Drawings, Vol.3, 1940-49, Lund Humphries in association with the Henry Moore Foundation, London, 2001, cat. no.AG 50.17, p.308, illustrated p.309.

Unexamined out of frame. The sheet has been executed on both sides. There appears some very slight, minor cockling in the upper half of the composition. There are traces of very minor studio detritus visible . This excepting the work appears in excellent overall condition. Housed behind glass in a thin gilt frame, set within a linen textured mount. Unexamined out of frame. Please contact the department on +44 (0) 207 293 6424 if you have any questions regarding the present work.
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In 1949 Moore produced a series of illustrations for a French translation by André Gide of Goethe’s Prometheus. Prométhée (1951, Cramer 18-32) became Moore’s first major portfolio and although the image on the verso of the present work, Pandora and the Sun, does not appear in the portfolio, Pandora and the Imprisoned Statues (Cramer 31) is the preparatory drawing for one of the fifteen lithographs which was chosen to be included in the portfolio.

These drawings are particularly significant as rare examples of Moore taking inspiration directly from classical mythology; he usually found greater stimulus in non-western art. Prometheus is known as the ‘sculptor’ of mankind, literally sculpting mankind from clay. It is therefore more than a little appropriate that it was Moore, as one of the greatest sculptors in his generation, who illustrated Gide's translation. Although Pandora is not mentioned in Goethe’s poem (itself a rebuke against Zeus because of the torture Prometheus and mankind now suffer), her appearance in these works is probably symbolic, representing the torture the gods are capable of inflicting on mankind. Pandora was sent to earth as a punishment, destined to spill the jar, letting evil into the world. The idea of torture is also taken up by the contorted forms of the statues, Pandora’s gaze is sympathetic: she never meant to cause suffering.

Although, Moore’s drawings from this time are pictorial works in their own right, they also have parallels with his sculpture of the period. Here we can observe him exploring the possibilities of new shapes, studying the nature of the forms and the structure of the objects. The ‘imprisoned statues’ in this work show a similar preoccupation with the relationship between internal and external forms drawn by Moore in 1947-49 (see Three Figures: Internal/External Forms, sold Sotheby’s New York, 8th May, 2014, lot 106). This imagery was first seen in sculptural form as a large elm-wood carving of 1951, now in the collection of the Albright-Knox Art Gallery, Buffalo (L.H.297). The ‘imprisoned statue’ at the lower left of the present work could be a blue-print for this sculpture. The internal/external theme was one that preoccupied Moore throughout his lifetime. Often the external form takes on a protective role either as a helmet (see lot 29), or womb, but in this work as the title indicates, the external form is a threat to the forms within; these organic, almost figurative forms are restricted within the hollow outer shell with no way of escape. The ‘statues’ are at once both abstract and figurative, and their shapes reflect the inspiration Moore found in natural objects such as rocks and bones.

Moore’s dynamic use of wax crayon and ink washed over with watercolour gives the drawing a rich surface texture. Furthermore, his use of a grid-like structure of horizontal red, yellow and white lines which follow the curves of the external forms, emphasises their three-dimensional nature. This method of drawing became known as the ‘two-way sectional line method’ and allowed Moore to create volume without using shadow. In this work, we see Moore combining the most recent developments in his drawing technique with his latest interest in sculptural form to portray his interpretation of a seminal episode and figure in Greek Mythology.