Henry Moore

The British Academy of Film and Television Arts (BAFTA), London (commissioned from the artist)
Acquired from the above by the present owner

Herbert Read & Alan Bowness, Henry Moore, Sculpture and Drawings 1949-1954, London, 1965, vol. 2, no. 271, illustration of another cast pl. 3
Ionel Jianou, Henry Moore, Paris, 1968, no. 255, edition catalogued p. 76
Robert Melville, Henry Moore, Sculpture and Drawings 1921-1969, London, 1970, no. 392, illustration of another cast p. 186
David Mitchinson (ed.), Henry Moore Sculpture, London, 1981, no. 197, illustration of another cast p. 104
John Hedgecoe, A Monumental Vision: The Sculpture of Henry Moore, London, 1998, no. 258, illustration of another cast p. 213

Deep brown patina. Apart from two very fine small abrasions to the figure's torso and back and some tiny nicks to the back of the chair, only visible at close inspection, this work is in very good condition.
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Executed in 1949, Seated Figure dates from a highpoint of Moore’s career, when his fame was spreading internationally and his sculpture reached world-wide recognition. In 1946-47 a major retrospective of his work was touring in the United States and in 1948 he was awarded the International Prize for Sculpture at the XXIV Venice Biennale. In 1948 Moore was commissioned by The British Film Academy (later renamed British Academy of Film and Television Arts) to create a bronze figure in an edition of five casts. These were awarded each year to the teams responsible for producing the Award-winning films in the categories: Film From Any Source, British Film, United Nations Award, Short Film and Specialised Film. Executed in the following year, the sculpture was used as the British Film Academy award until 1967. Some notable winners have been The Third Man, All About Eve, Genevieve and The Bridge on the River Kwai.

 

Around the time he executed the present work, Moore was working on several now famous sculptures of seated figures, most notably Madonna and Child, a stone carving commissioned for St Peter’s Church in Claydon, Suffolk, and a monumental bronze Family Group. In addition to Moore’s treatment of this theme, the figure in the present work is holding a laurel, symbolising the honour of winning the award. It is covered by drapery, and it is this contrast between the soft folds of the fabric, mostly accentuated around the legs, and the strong, solid forms of the figure’s body, that lends the work much of its vitality. It was whilst working on his Shelter Drawings during the Second World War that Moore became increasingly absorbed in the manner in which drapery could denote sculptural volume. The three-dimensional effect achieved by the folds in the figure’s garment is in part inspired by the sculpture and reliefs from ancient Egypt and Classical antiquity, particularly some of the Parthenon figures which Moore admired during his frequent visits to the British Museum.