Two Three-Quarter Figures

myminifactory

Moore brought the human figure to center stage of his sculpture and noted, "There are three fundamental poses: standing, seated, and lying down" (as quoted by D. Mitchinson in Henry Moore Sculpture, London, 1981, page 86). Among major sculptors focusing on the human form in the first half of the 20th century - including Auguste Rodin, Émile Bourdelle, Aristide Maillol, Henri Matisse, Jacques Lipchitz, Jean Arp, and Alberto Giacometti - Moore uniquely emphasized the reclining figure, with this pose outnumbering seated or standing figures in his work. He cited two reasons for this choice: first, the extreme weight of carved stone is more evenly distributed in a horizontal figure than in a vertical one; second, there are inherently more variations in a reclined pose than in an upright one. When encountering a standing or upright pose in Moore's work, as seen in this sculpture, the figure is no longer passive or receptive but instead fills the space with an aggressively modern and confrontational manner, similar to that observed in the work of the aforementioned sculptors. It's likely for this reason that Moore's upright figures tend to be more abstract in appearance than his reclining subjects, where emphasis lies on a traditional delight in the sensuousness of the female form. An upright figure typically possesses an advantage in projecting a more active and potentially heroic sensibility. Furthermore, it may be appreciated more fully in the round, whereas reclining figures are best viewed from one or two vantage points only. Vertical figures frequently appear among Moore's many smaller works created during his later years, as their reduced scale freed the artist from concerns about balancing tall weights. In contrast to the reclining figures, the vertical forms display more overtly the surrealist and organic aspect of Moore's perception of forms. The abstract impulse increasingly evident in Moore's late sculptures follows on his conviction that "We must relate the human figure to animals, to clouds, to the landscape - bring them all together. By using them like metaphors in poetry, you give new meaning to things" (as quoted by A. Wilkinson in Henry Moore Remembered, Toronto, 1987, page 122).