HENRY MOORE | Maquette for Reclining Figure: Hand

Fischer Fine Art, London, where acquired by the present owners, 29th June 1977

William S. Lieberman, Henry Moore: 60 Years of His Art, Thames & Hudson, London & New York, 1983, illustrated p.125 (another cast);  
Alan Bowness (ed.), Henry Moore, Complete Sculpture 1974-1980, Vol. 5, Lund Humphries, London, 1983, cat. no.707 (another cast); 
John Hedgecoe, A Monumental Vision: The Sculpture of Henry Moore, Collins & Brown, London, 1998, cat. no.604, illustrated p.238 (another cast).

The sculpture appears sound. The surface of the bronze is very slightly pitted in a small number of places, in keeping with the Artist's working methods. There are a small number of very light scratches to the work, most evident to the far right vertical edge. There is a faint scuff to the figure's back, only visible upon close inspection. There is a variation to the patina throughout, that appears to be in line with the Artist's intentions. In addition, there is light oxidisation to the work in places. There are two small areas of unevenness to the patina - to the figure's back and to the back of the drapery. There is light surface dirt to creviced areas. This excepting, the work appears in very good overall condition. The work has an integral Artist's bronze base, with slight rounding and rubbing to protrouding edges, and is affixed to a painted wooden base. Please telephone the department on +44 (0) 207 293 6424 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."

Moore's reclining figures are among his most celebrated and sophisticated works. His first investigations of the form began in the 1920s and were repeatedly examined and reworked until the end of his life. The present work dates from the height of his career, when he had mastered the most technically complex expressions of this theme. Moore himself described the progression of his sculpture; 'becoming less representational, less outwardly a visual copy, and so what some people would call more abstract; but only because in this way I can present the human psychological context of my work with the greatest clearness and intensity' (Henry Moore, quoted in F. S. Wight (ed.), Henry Moore: The Reclining Figure, exh. cat., The Columbus Museum, Columbus, 1984, p.131).  

Although one of the most internationally significant Modernists, Moore's work never lost its focus on the human form. He once stated that: 'the human figure is the basis of all my sculpture, and that for me means the female nude. From the very beginning the reclining figure has been my main theme. The first one I made was around 1924, and probably more than half of my sculptures since have been reclining figures' (Henry Moore, quoted in John Hedgecoe, Henry Moore, Simon and Schuster, New York, 1968, p.151). He described the three basic poses of the human figure: standing, sitting and lying down. That in the vast majority of his works the female figure is either seated or reclining is a preference that initially stemmed from the sculptor's desire to work in stone, for the practical concern that a standing figure in carved stone is structurally weak at the ankles, 'but with either a seated or reclining figure one doesn't have this worry,' Moore explained. 'And between them are enough variations to occupy any sculptor for a lifetime.' He noted, moreover, that 'of the three poses the reclining figure gives the most freedom, compositionally and spatially. The seated figure has to have something to sit on. You can't free it from its pedestal. A reclining figure can recline on any surface. It is free and stable at the same time. It fits in with my belief that sculpture should be permanent, should last for an eternity. Also, it has repose' (David Mitchinson, ed., Henry Moore Sculpture, with Comments by the Artist, MacMillan, London, 1981, p. 86).

The female nude is a well established theme within Western art history, and Moore's decision to focus on it is not challenging in itself. The tone, however, with which he investigates and celebrates the topic is at odds with much of the genre. This does not stem from any prudishness, but for the reason that more than any other great male artist of the 20th century, Moore was sympathetic to the complex and multi-dimensional lives of women, he 'honors and never humiliates his feminine subjects. They are sensual but not flagrantly or even coyly erotic' (Albert Elsen, Modern European Sculpture 1918-1945, Braziller in association with Albright-Knox Art Gallery, New York, 1979, p.50). He was especially respectful of their all-important role in human society as the bearers of miraculous life-giving powers. 'These reclining women are not the reclining women of a Maillol or a Matisse,' Will Grohmann has written, 'they are women in repose but also something more profound...woman as the concept of fruitfulness, the Mother Earth. Moore, who once pointed to the maternal element in the "Reclining Figures," may well see in them an element of eternity, the "Great Female," who is both birth-giving nature and the wellspring of the unconscious... To Henry Moore, the "Reclining Figures" are no mere external objects, he identifies himself with them, as well as the earth and the whole realm of motherhood' (Will Grohman, The Art of Henry Moore, Thames and Hudson, London, 1960, p.43).