Henry Moore was a major British sculptor whose organically shaped, semiabstract, and often monumental bronze and stone figures made him one of the most important sculptors of the 20th century. Born into a Yorkshire coal-mining family on July 30, 1898, Moore started training as a schoolteacher, until he was called to serve in World War I and was injured. Thanks to a rehabilitation grant in September 1919, he studied drawing and sculpture at the Leeds School of Art, from which he obtained a scholarship to study sculpture at the Royal College of Art in London. There, he spent time at the British Museum, discovering the power and beauty of Egyptian, Etruscan, pre-Columbian and African sculpture. Reacting against the European sculptural tradition, Moore moved away from the human figure to experiment with abstract shapes that made use of organic and natural forms – he studied bones, pebbles, and shells to understand what he called “nature’s principles of form and rhythm.” From his first one-man exhibition and public commission in London in the late 1920s to his 1943 commission of a Madonna and Child for the church of St. Matthew in Northampton to his Reclining Figure, 1956–58, for the UNESCO building in Paris, Moore developed a distinct Modernist sculptural language that earned him international critical acclaim. After establishing the Henry Moore Foundation in 1977 and giving many sculptures from a 1978 exhibition of his work at London’s Serpentine Gallery to the Tate museum. His style, alongside fellow artists Barbara Hepworth and Ben Nicholson, would come to define British Modernist art. Along with museums around the world, Moore’s work is in the collections of England’s Chatsworth House, Yorkshire Sculpture Park, Kew Gardens, and Fitzwilliam Museum. According to Sotheby’s Mei Moses index, the average compound annual return for Henry Moore resold at auction between 2003 and 2017 was 4.9%, and 84.3% of 172 such works increased in value.

Henry Moore

Modern Day Auction

Property of a Private New York Collector Henry Moore 1898 - 1986 Working Model for Seated Figure: Arms Outstretched incised Moore and numbered 4/9 bronze height: 24 ⅜ in. 61.9 cm. Conceived in 1960; this example cast in 1984.

View 1 of Lot 454: Working Model for Seated Figure: Arms Outstretched

working model for seated figure: arms outstretched

Casting Light: Property from a Private Collection, California

Casting Light: Property from a Private Collection, California Henry Moore 1898 - 1986 Sculptural Object inscribed Moore and numbered 0/10 bronze height (excluding base): 18 ⅝ in. 47.3 cm. Conceived in 1960.

sculptural object

Property from a Distinguished Private American Collection

Property from a Distinguished Private American Collection Henry Moore 1898 - 1986 Reclining Figure incised Moore bronze length: 14 ⅜ in. 36.5 cm. Conceived and cast in 1945 in a known edition of 7.

reclining figure

Reclining Figure with Sea Background, from: Reclining Figures, by <a href="https://www.sothebys.com/en/search?query=henry+moore&amp;pfilters.dateRange=upcoming" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Henry Moore</a>, 1973.<ul><li>Henry Moore (British 1898-1986).</li><li>Inscribed lithograph in colors on wove paper.</li><li>Hand-signed.</li><li>Part of an edition of 20.</li><li>This work is presented unframed.</li></ul> This original lithograph in colors is hand signed in pencil by the artist “Moore” at the lower right margin and dated “73” [1973] below the signature.&nbsp;This impression is inscribed “HC” and numbered in Arabic numerals from the edition of twenty hors commerce [out of trade], in the lower left margin. This is aside the standard edition of 50 on Arches paper.&nbsp; It was printed by Curwen Prints Ltd, London and published by Société Internationale d'Art XXe Siècle, Paris. Is the first composition of six from the portfolio Reclining Figures published in 1973.&nbsp;

Reclining Figure with Sea Background, from: Reclining Figures

Composition II, from: Sculptural Ideas, by <a href="https://www.sothebys.com/en/search?query=henry+moore&amp;pfilters.dateRange=upcoming" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Henry Moore</a>, 1980-81.<ul><li>Henry Moore (British 1898-1986).</li><li>Etching and aquatint in colors on Fabriano wove paper.</li><li>Hand-signed.</li><li>Part of an edition of 120.</li><li>This work is presented unframed.</li></ul> This original etching and aquatint is hand signed by the artist in pencil "Moore" at the lower right margin. It is also numbered in pencil from the edition of 50, at the lower left margin. There were also ten hors commerce [out of trade] impressions aside from the standard edition. It was printed by 2RC Editirice, Rome and co-published by Raymond Spencer Company Ltd for the Henry Moore Foundation, Much Hadham.&nbsp; The work was printed as part of the portfolio Sculptural Ideas that included seven original etchings by Henry Moore. The paper bears the blindstamp of the publisher in the lower left corner.&nbsp;The paper bears the Arches watermark along the lower margin. The work has been inscribed with the number 8/50 by another hand in the lower left corner.

Composition II, from: Sculptural Ideas

Henry MooreAnimal Head: Open MouthbronzeConceived in 1982, this example is number 6 from an edition of 9inscribed Moore 6/9 on the base&nbsp;9.5 by 12.4 by 7.3 cm. 3 3/4 by 4 7/8 by 2 7/8 in.

Animal Head: Open Mouth

Henry MooreHalf Figure Mother and ChildbronzeConceived in 1983, this example is number 3 from the edition of 9inscribed Moore 3/9 on the base11.7 by 8.6 by 7 cm. 4 5/8 by 3 3/8 by 7 in.

Half Figure Mother and Child

Reclining Figure Architectural Background I, by <a href="https://www.sothebys.com/en/search?query=Henry+Moore&amp;pfilters.dateRange=upcoming" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Henry Moore</a>, 1977-80.<ul><li>Henry Moore (British, 1898-1986).</li><li>Lithograph in colors on T.H. Saunders wove paper.</li><li>Hand signed and numbered.</li><li>Part of an artist's proof edition of 10, this being 3.</li><li>Printed by Curwen Prints Ltd., London.</li><li>Published by Raymond Spencer Company Ltd. for the Henry Moore Foundation, Much Hadham, 1980.</li><li>This work is presented unframed.</li></ul>&nbsp;&nbsp;This lithograph in colors is hand signed by the artist in pencil "Moore" at the lower right margin. It is also hand numbered in Roman numerals, at the lower left margin. This impression is one of ten artist's proofs aside from the standard edition of 50. It was printed by Curwen Prints Ltd., London and published by Raymond Spencer Company for the Henry Moore Foundation, Much Hadham in 1980.

Reclining Figure Architectural Background I

A limited <a href="https://www.sothebys.com/en/buy/luxury/books-&amp;-manuscripts/book/first-edition?locale=en" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">first edition</a> of this artistic rendition of the French translation of <a href="https://www.sothebys.com/en/search?query=Goethe&amp;tab=objects&amp;sortBy=bsp_dotcom_prod_en" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Goethe</a>'s unfinished play, with lithographs by renowned sculptor <a href="https://www.sothebys.com/en/search?query=Henry%20Moore&amp;tab=objects&amp;sortBy=bsp_dotcom_prod_en" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Henry Moore</a>.<ul><li>Johann Wolfgang von Goethe (German).</li><li>Lithographs by Henry Moore (English).</li><li>Translated by Andre Gide.</li><li>[Paris]:&nbsp;Henri Jonquières / P. A. Nicaise,&nbsp;1950 (completed in 1951).</li><li>[2], 69 pages of loose folia.&nbsp;</li><li>Illustrated with 14 color lithographs.</li><li>Number 183 of 183.</li><li>Text in French.</li><li>Original brown pictorial wrapper, in original board clamshell box, with red lettering.</li></ul> Henry Moore created the lithographs for Prométhée at the height of his fame, as he began to take on more large-scale public works. Many of his illustrations feature a Dalí-esque stark landscape populated by abstracted epic figures, complimenting Goethe's retelling of the Greek creation myth — a fitting story to be executed by a sculptor.

Prométhée Limited First Edition

Henry MooreStanding Figure: Pointed Head&nbsp;number 6 from an edition of 9bronze Conceived in 1983 and cast in an edition of 9.

Standing Figure: Pointed Head

Henry MooreMother and Child on KneebronzeConceived in 1982, this example is number 4 from the edition of 9inscribed Moore 4/9 on the base&nbsp;15.6 by 11 by 5.5 cm. 6 1/8 by 4 3/8 by 2 1/8 in.

Mother with Child on Knee

Henry MooreSeated Figure on Log&nbsp;bronzeConceived in 1982, this example number 8 from an edition of 9inscribed Moore 8/9 NOACK BERLIN on the base16.3 by 6.7 by 5.2 cm. 6 3/8 by 2 5/8 by 2 in.

Seated Figure on Log

Henry MooreMother and Child: Fragmentbronze Conceived in 1956; this example is number 8 from an edition of 9.

Tree Figure

Henry MooreThree-Quarter Figure: Tubular basebronzeConceived in 1983, this example is number 3 from an edition of 9inscribed Moore 3/9 on the base&nbsp;18.5 by 7.2 by 7.2 cm. 7 1/4 by 2 7/8 by 2 7/8 in.

Three-Quarter Figure: Tubular Base

Henry MooreLeaf Figure No. 4bronze mounted on contemporary wood baseConceived in 1952, the present work is from the edition of 11.60.9 by 15 by 10.3 cm. 24 by 5 7/8 by 4 in.&nbsp;(including base)

Leaf Figure No.4

Henry MooreBonnet Figurebronze Conceived in 1982; this example is number 7 from an edition of 9.

Bonnet Figure

Henry MooreMaquette for Atom Piece&nbsp;bronzeConceived in 1964 and cast in 1970, the present work is number 12 from the edition of 12.signed Moore and numbered 12/12 (on the base)&nbsp;16.9 by 13.5 by 13.5 cm. 6 5/8 by 5 1/4 by 5 1/4 in. (including base)

Maquette for Atom Piece

Henry MooreLeaf Figure No. 3bronzeConceived in 1952, the present work is from the edition of 11.53.6 by 14.5 by 8.5 cm. 21 1/8 by 5 3/4 by 3 3/8 in. (including base)

Leaf Figure No.3

Two Fat Lambs (Cramer 395), by <a href="https://www.sothebys.com/en/search?query=Henry+Moore&amp;pfilters.dateRange=upcoming" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Henry Moore</a>, 1974.<ul><li>Henry Moore (English, 1898-1986).</li><li>Lithograph on Laid paper.</li><li>Signed and numbered in pencil.</li><li>Part of an edition of 30, X.</li><li>Published by Curwen Prints Ltd, London.</li><li>This work is presented framed.</li></ul> Henry Moore's sweet rendering of two lambs is a lovely example of the artist's extensive skill as a draughtsman. Watching the sheep in the fields from his studio window in Hertfordshire, the artist would sketch the sheep and lambs as they grazed.

Two Fat Lambs

Henry MooreFat Torso&nbsp;bronzeConceived in 1981, this example is number 1 from the edition of 7inscribed Moore 1/7 on the base16.8 by 13.5 by 13.8 cm. 6 5/8 by 5 1/4 by 5 3/8 in.

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