HENRY MOORE | Maquette for Reclining Figure: Holes

Gallery Kasahara, Osaka
Acquired from the above by the present owner circa 2003

Alan Bowness, (ed.), Henry Moore, Sculpture and drawings, London, 1983, vol. V, no. 656, illustration of another cast p. 21
Henry Moore: Skulpturen, Zeichnungen, Grafiken (exhibition catalogue), Galerie Ruf, Munich, 1983-84, no. 64, illustration of another cast n.p.
John Hedgecoe, Henry Moore: A Monumental Vision, Cologne, 2005, no. 570, illustration of another cast p. 237
Henry Moore Back to a Land (exhibition catalogue), Yorkshire Sculpture Park, West Bretton, 2015, n.n., illustration in colour of another cast p. 126

The bronze is sound with a matte golden brown patina. There is some surface dirt in the deepest crevices and some minor handling wear to the patina in places. There is some minor pitting, inherent to the casting process to the figures legs. This work is in overall good condition.
"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 reclining figure was one of Henry Moore’s most fundamental artistic preoccupations and arguably the most iconic theme of his entire corpus. Conceived in 1975, at the height of Moore’s mature artistic output, Reclining Figure: Holes, is an elegant representation of the female figure, skilfully sculpted into a recumbent and languorous position. Moore once stated: ‘In my opinion, long and intense study of the human figure is the necessary foundation for a sculptor. The human figure is most complex and subtle and difficult to grasp in form and construction, and so it makes the most exacting form for study and comprehension’ (quoted in Alan Wilkinson (ed.), Henry Moore: Writings and Conversations, Berkeley, 2002, p. 218). Moore studied sculpture at Leeds School of Art in 1919 having left the British army at the end of the First World War. His first reclining figure was made in 1924 but it remained a key sculptural subject for the rest of his life. Originally inspired by both Cycladic and Aztec sculpture, Moore embraced primitivism and abstraction when sculpting reclining figures. The theme gained new significance for Moore when he was a war artist during the Blitz in London. He recorded the impact of destruction on the city’s civilians and was struck by the sleeping forms he witnessed at night amid the underground network, acting as temporary shelters. These unforgettable sights greatly informed Moore’s artistic vision and guaranteed the reclining figure to be the most enduring motif of his career.  

In terms of Moore’s approach to materials, he underwent a striking shift after the Second World War and the present work is a quintessential example of his newly-found methodology. Before the 1940s he was an advocate for carving directly from a block of stone or wood but proceeded to realise the benefits of working in bronze, terracotta and plaster. Bronze in particular granted the artist greater flexibility with his formal experimentation and the material’s tensile strength enabled him to open out the figure in dynamic ways, increasing the work’s dramatic effect. Reclining Figure: Holes exhibits Moore’s skill in manipulating the material to its absolute potential, punctuating the body with holes, which initiates a scintillating interplay between light and dark. The solid form of the body, anchored by gravity, provides a sharp contrast with the voids of space, instilling the figure with a sense of vitality and energy.

The present work reveals the artist’s discovery of rhythm as a constituent force in the generation of form; the gentle, undulating curves make it look as if the figure itself had been shaped by nature’s energy. As David Sylvester has commented: ‘Moore’s reclining figures are not supine; they prop themselves up, are potentially active. Hence the affinity with river-gods; the idea is not simply that of a body subjected to the flow of nature’s forces but of one in which those forces are harnessed’ (David Sylvester, Henry Moore, New York & London, 1968, p. 5). Reclining Figure: Holes is a wonderful mature work, created at a time when Moore had mastered the most technically complex expressions of sculptural form.

Other casts of this work are in the collections of the Henry Moore Foundation and the Albright-Knox Art Gallery, New York.



This work is recorded in the archives of the Henry Moore Foundation under number 2019.4.